IMPACTED CANINES CLUB

[dorothysnarker]

I'm also in the club, and have been since March of 2011. Both canines in my upper arch were impacted, and my orthodontist extracted my baby teeth and exposed the adult canines after I got my braces on in the same month. They've been pulling down the canines with elastics on and off since then, and the ortho thinks they should be down fully in the next month or 2!

As for the surgery, I wasn't knocked out. They gave me Novocain (one of the shots went into my hard palate, worst part) and I was in and out. He also shaved away some of the gum tissue, so that made the experience more unpleasant, but the aftermath wasn't too bad. Make sure you apply lots of pressure to the site with gauze, and if you're oozing (ew) a little too much, try a black tea bag soaked in water. The tannins assist with clotting.

I had mine done on a weekday and was back to work the next day, no problem.

Good luck!

[Happy Gappy]

Hi guys!

I'm in the same bout/club. Had my two baby canines extracted on 3O Dec (so 2 weeks ago). Happy New Year and was uncomfortable but ok until y'day when I had my braces fitted. Now in a whole world of pain still with a gap since my ortho said I can't put the fake teeth in. He says that since they are right above the surface of the gum that they COULD come through once the space is corrected and I can help things by pushing on the gum to stimulate them to come through. Other wise he said they would just slit the gum to pull them through which I'm assuming is similar to an exposure? I'm really not looking forward to having a gap there for 2 years so was wondering if people had orthos that adopted a similar approach? And if someone out there has had a similar experience in Australia too and what their experience was like and what action was taken since things can vary country to country?

Thanks from a very ouchy woo woo mouth!!!!

[kaddessi]

I've had my braces on and no canines for 7 months! My ortho said in the beginning that we would do the exposure surgery around the 8th or 9th month but when I went in for my adjustment yesterday he didn't say anything. I've got springs on the wire were my spaces are. He says they are there to make room for the teeth to come through but I don't understand why the space isn't big enough already? I'm in so much pain today and back on soft food. I hope the pain will subside by tomorrow.

[cinweek]

Hi, I am joining the club (which I am extremely grateful to find today!) I'm amazed at how many people there are with the same issues i'm having. Anyway, I am 38, got braces on in October, and just had my first "exposure" surgery last week. However, it didn't quite go as planned, and I have to go back to the oral surgeon to be put to sleep and try again (the first time was novacain only, and they weren't able to get to the impacted teeth from either the facial side, or palate side, even with quite a bit of bone removal) and I was in quite a bit of pain, so they opted to stop the surgery and have me go to the oral surgeon (my ortho was doing it) to try again, so they can remove my 4 baby teeth, and go through there to get to the impacted canines. The ortho seems pretty sure they will be able to get them bracketed without a problem, but cannot guarantee they will actually move based on the fact that I am 39, so they may be fused to the bone. After going through the pain of the first surgery, I'm worried about doing it again, only to have it not work. Not to mention the gaps I will have for years waiting to see if it does happen.

So I'm wondering who out there has had this surgery that is in their upper 30s, 40s, etc. and has it been a sucess for you???

Thanks in advance!

[raefactor]

I guess I belong in this club too. I didn't know there were so many other people with impacted canines.

My right upper canine was impacted, we knew this early on in one of my first visits to an ortho when I was younger, but we didn't do anything about it. I guess we didn't have the money for the braces I needed. Turned twenty, finally got braces on the end of April last year and had surgery to remove both the baby and 'adult' tooth in May. The ortho, dentist and oral surgeon are all suggesting and pushing me to have the space set up for an implant if I want it later in life. The dentist even showed me bridges and freaked me out about them. As if an implant would be so much easier... Rolling my eyes all the way home.. I have a fake tooth in the spot now for looks. Shrug.

[maeby]

It's such a relief to finally find your stories after learning about my impacted canines over 10 years ago. I thought I was an oddity! I'm glad to know I'm wrong.

My story is still in the early stages, since I'm still in the records-taking phase of the treatment process. No braces for me just yet. I have two impacted canines (both upper). One is in position to grow in and it's right over a gap in my teeth. I think it's still lacking a couple of millimeters of space to grow in on its own. The other is laying sideways and the orthos I have consulted have all been uncertain about whether it could be positioned to move in. Only one of three orthos has mentioned exposure and chains, but I plan to ask my current doc about it at my records appointment tomorrow.

One orthodontist did mention that, if the canines weren't extracted/exposed, they could cause headaches by remaining in my palette. Has anyone else heard of or experienced this?

[Anna30]

Hi all!

I was glad to see that I am not the only one dealing with this issue. I've been reading your stories, and I finally decided to join and tell my own story. I am 23, and I was braced in September to address my upper left impacted canine. I have my exposure surgery set for March, and I am a little nervous.... 0.0 Here's hoping everything goes well! I'm just trying to keep the end result of beautiful teeth in mind!

[leahmel]

Hey, I am joining the club!! I am having surgery on March 29th, which is almost 10 months from the time I got my braces. I am scared!!

Have any of you had a pontic on the wire to fill the space in? I am worried about how it will look without a tooth with work. I have to look professional and do presentations in front of lots of people every month, and I don't want to lose my confidence when I smile.

[leahmel]

[quote="LuckyLola"]The pontic is attached via glue to the tooth next to the impacted canine. You would never know that's it's not real by looking at it. As I mentioned before, that was the work of my dentist.
.[/quote]


My orthodontist is amazing, but I feel like he makes it out like there is no option to fill the space temporarily! I have a flipper now, but I know I cant's wear that later. He basically told me that there is no choice, even though he made me a pontic in the beginning when they weren't sure if the flipper would work. I love my orthodontist and he gets great reviews, but I feel like he should've given me this option when I complained about what it will look like.

[Anna30]

I also get the impression from my ortho that there is nothing to be done to fill in the space after the surgery. I would also be curious to know if anyone else has been able to have a pontic attached to the wire while the canine is being brought down....

[~KMG~]

I did not have my baby tooth taken out when I had my initial exposure surgery last May. My ortho let me hang onto it until we were sure that the impacted canine was moving since I was so concerned about having the gaping hole. My baby tooth was finally extracted two weeks ago and my ortho molded and attached a pontic yesterday. It is not perfect, but it looks so much better than the huge gap I had, which was extra extra large with the additional space that was created by wearing a spring for several months.

[leahmel]

I just talked to the orthodontist. He says I can not get a pontic because of the tooth's position. I wan tto cry. I really don't want to have a huge gap in the side of my mouth.

[kaddessi]

At least you will only have one gap. I've got both gaps. It's not that big of a deal. No one has given me weird looks and everytime I talk about it people say they hadn't noticed.

[stealth76]

Hello.

I m joining you as i have top left impacted canin too.
Got my top braces in may 2011, and bottom in january this year.
I had surgery to glue the "bracket with wire" thing on my impacted canin on the 20 of february. Baby tooth was removed in same time.
Ortho started to move softly the teeth to the front in attaching the wire to a powerchain set on left part of top braces.
Tomorrow i m going to ortho. Last time she spoke of pulling it back for a moment, so a transpalatal archwire will be surely (not sure 100%) required.

Concerning the actual topic, I have a gap but as the baby teeth was already really tiny and high, it's not a big deal in my case. I think it s even more normal than having a teeth used, yellow and too high...

[Bracket]

I am in the club x2!

Both of my upper canines are impacted. I didn't even know about this until this year (I turned 24) and that is why I've had braces since November...
When my dentist referred me to the ortho she wrote that I had a "tricky" case of impacted canines - (they were sitting kind of horizontally it looks like, facing the midline?) but my ortho told me I have a 90% chance of success in bringing them down. Let's hope he's right!

I had all four wisdom teeth out and my exposure of both canines on friday.. I have been on a soft-food diet since then and in quite a bit of pain, but not enough to take the T3s they sent me home with!

So now, I am waiting until my next adjustment, which is not until May, to begin the process to bring my teeth into place. I am not enjoying the new gaps in my mouth, but I guess it will be worth it in the end...

Does anyone have success stories from around the same age/situation for encouragement?