IMPACTED CANINES CLUB

[tkna]

@Lola89 welcome to the club. If your canine haven't erupted yet then most likely you will have to get braces and exposure surgery w/ chain link and all to help the tooth erupt into place. I am in the same situation as you. My canine is on the upper right and it's been about 5 months now since I've been in braces. I will probably be having my surgery in dec or early next yr. Right now my ortho is trying to create space for the sucker to come down. It seems in your situation your impacted canine is in good position to come down and it is best you find out now b/c as you get older the uncertainty of the tooth coming down is slim. But best of luck to you. Keep us updated on your progress.

[Lola89]

Thank you for your help!
I am seeing an ortho in 2 weeks so I thought I would have to get braces, so hopefully it doesnt take long to come down. I still have my wisdom teeth too so im guessing those will have to come out too.
Il keep u posted, let me know how u go with yours, is your canine in a good position to come down or is it diagonal?

[hotbracedmama]

[quote="Lola89"]Hi, I also have an impacted left canine, however in my x ray it is just sitting there. Im 22 and my dentist has informed me that I will need braces to make space for the tooth to come down. does anyone know if they can come down on their own? or will i definitely need to have the chain attached? The impacted tooth is in the right position it is not sitting horizontally or behing any teeth. I have not yet seen an orthodontist, but have an appointment in a few weeks. I have had the baby canine extracted a few days ago as it was rotting away, so the dentist pulled it out. has anyone had anything similar??[/quote]

Hi Lola - I don't post very often but thought I would answer since it sounds like we were in a similar position. I had an impacted canine that didn't have room to come down, but it was in the exact correct position (just up in my gums).
Anyway, my surgery was easy, and the tooth came in super-easy. They pulled the tooth right behind the canine (forget what it's called), and then did the exposure surgery which essentially just involved cutting a chunk of the gum away from around the tooth. It healed for a couple weeks, then my ortho just put a bracket on it and started bringing it down. All in all, it only took about 3 months between having the surgery, and bringing the tooth all the way down. I think it can take much longer than that, but in my case it didn't because the tooth was pretty much in the right spot - just impacted.

So anyway, my point is that you won't necessarily need a chain to bring it down.

[Lola89]

Hi Lola - I don't post very often but thought I would answer since it sounds like we were in a similar position. I had an impacted canine that didn't have room to come down, but it was in the exact correct position (just up in my gums).
Anyway, my surgery was easy, and the tooth came in super-easy. They pulled the tooth right behind the canine (forget what it's called), and then did the exposure surgery which essentially just involved cutting a chunk of the gum away from around the tooth. It healed for a couple weeks, then my ortho just put a bracket on it and started bringing it down. All in all, it only took about 3 months between having the surgery, and bringing the tooth all the way down. I think it can take much longer than that, but in my case it didn't because the tooth was pretty much in the right spot - just impacted.

So anyway, my point is that you won't necessarily need a chain to bring it down.[/quote]

wow thats awesome. thank u so much for posting. so did u need to get braces at all? i really hope mine is that easy.

[Lola89]

wow thats awesome. thank u so much for posting. so did u need to get braces at all? i really hope mine is that easy.[/quote]

sorry for that last comment what i meant was how long did u have to have braces on for??

[hotbracedmama]

Lola89 wrote:
> wow thats awesome. thank u so much for posting. so did u need to get braces at all?
> i really hope mine is that easy.[/quote]
>
> sorry for that last comment what i meant was how long did u have to have braces on
> for??

Well, I had them for 3 months before I had the exposure surgery, and I still have them now about 9 months later. The rest of my teeth are pretty screwed up - lol. But my "new" canine looks great!

[Lola89]

[quote="hotbracedmama"]Lola89 wrote:
> wow thats awesome. thank u so much for posting. so did u need to get braces at all?
> i really hope mine is that easy.[/quote]
>
> sorry for that last comment what i meant was how long did u have to have braces on
> for??

Well, I had them for 3 months before I had the exposure surgery, and I still have them now about 9 months later. The rest of my teeth are pretty screwed up - lol. But my "new" canine looks great![/quote]

so awesome good luck!!!

[Sick of Braces]

I'm not exactly a new member to the club, but I've been going crazy over this recently and I thought posting about it here with some kindred spirits might make me feel better.

I first started treatment in 2004. The ortho pulled out a baby tooth in my lower left jaw to make space for an impacted canine. After the tooth failed to come out on its own, I had the surgery to attach a chain to it. I might have had another surgery after that, but it's been so long ago I don't even remember. Almost 8 years later, I'm still here waiting not knowing what to do. If I could just get a fake tooth and get it over with, I'd be very happy, but last year in 2010 I realized that all the force being applied to pull out the impacted canine has distorted my whole face, teeth, and lower jaw over time. It has pulled the left side of my upper arch down, so the whole lower half of my face is slanted. Even my nose is slanted now, though my orho assures me that's impossible. So now I've told him to try to correct the other problems first instead of worrying about the impacted canine.

I'm glad to hear that it has gone well for most of you. It at least gives me a little hope that I can come out of this looking normal.

[tkna]

@Sick of Braces hearing your story kind of scare me. So you have been brace for 8+years still? That is a very long time. What was your initial treatment time to begin with and after that expired did your ortho not suggest you opt for another route or did you just decide to wait it out hoping the tooth will come down on it's own? If it's been that long and w/ your many check up I am shock that your ortho did not take notice of what the movement and adjustment was doing to your face. I hope he fixes this issue for you. Please keep us update.

So I have my official surgery date for my exposure and wisdom teeth extraction, which is in 2 more weeks. They put a metal button on inside of one of my back molar to where the chain will be linked to. But yeah this is like my first major surgery so I am pretty nervous wreck. Once I get it expose I will not see my ortho until 2wk after my exposure to get my chain activated. The reason being is b/c he wants me to heal a little since I am getting my wisdom teeth out too. Which is good b/c my pain tolerance is not very high. So for those that have had the exposure surgery how was it? Is your brushing, eating habit changed? What's different. I know from reading some post on different thread some people had to get multiple exposure surgery? Hopefully for the members who are going through this will update b/c I would love to know your progress since we are going through the same situation. Thanks and best of luck to all.

[tkna]

Hm..no reply to my previous post? Any who just want to let you guys know I finally got my bottom impacted wisdom teeth out and my upper canine exposed. Right now I am just in the middle of recovery stage and will have my link to my exposed activate in like 2 more weeks.

[time4achange]

im going to have to get some braces soon. so im on the same boat as you

[LuckyLola]

I've been in braces for close to two years (March). In January, I was told it would only take a couple of alignments to get my impacted canine down. I understand that it was in a difficult position and I believe I have allowed for that. My exposure surgery was June 2010.
My teeth have been moved back and forth several times and my last alignment last Wednesday has me frustrated.

Just to recap, my teeth were nice prior to treatment although I had a little overbite. Now I have a HUGE overbite as to where they are beginning to show through my lips when they are closed! My dentist has a pontic over the impacted tooth which is what my ortho and I agreed to prior to treatment. Last summer he told me that he didn't want me to have the pontic but I reminded him that we agreed upon it. To make a long story short, the canine is finally down and moving into place but he has made a mess of my teeth. The alignment last week, only my front teeth and a larger gap were made...no movement for the impacted canine. My bite is off and when I bite down I have a terrible pain in the tooth behind my canine. I can't understand why such a large gap is needed when the impacted tooth is the same size as the pontic. The gap is twice the size as the pontic!

Has anyone gone through something like this? Honest opinions needed. I'm trying to be understanding but I'm struggling.

[LuckyLola]

A couple of additonal photos...

[Abeona]

Hello guys. I feel so frustrated. No progres. One year in braces, operation to free the impacted canines was two months ago and nothing. I am losing hope. How long I have to wait? And the ortho said my impacted canines are prety low which is good but rotated which is bad. Is there an ortho reading this forum who can tell us more about this?

[Jingles]

Hi everyone,

You can count me in the club as well. 40 yrs old here with an impacted canine on the right side. I got my braces on in August and had my first exposure done in September. The first time they put me to sleep and everything went ok other than the expected soreness.

Fast forward to December, a visit to the ortho reveals that the bracket had come off so back to the oral surgeon I go, this time getting the exposure done without being put to sleep. Getting the novacaine was the worst part of the whole procedure, but really not that bad.....this is done 12-19.

Fast forward to 12-29, my sister (who also happens to be my ortho tech) is trying to activate the chain when suddenly the whole bracket slips out of my gum...she says she's never seen anything like it in the 6 years she's been a tech...back to the surgeon I go :(

12-30 - My third exposure! Again with novacaine only this time I swear to God he hit a nerve because that first injection brought tears to my eyes..ohh it hurt...his last words after the procedure, "no offense, but I hope I never see you again"....my response, "yeah, I feel the same way about you" lol.

I just got the chain activated again today, this time my sister wouldn't even touch me, lol, so the tech that did work on me used some type of elasticky string to tie the chain to the wire because she too was afraid of pulling too hard. We'll see how it goes......

All my other teeth have made such great improvements in the short period of time I've had the braces, but I'm SO ready to see that canine where it belongs!