IMPACTED CANINES CLUB

[fyrelight]

I can't believe it's so popular to get canines exposed that you have a whole group on here now. Cool. I was finished in 2005. I wear my retainers occasionally (maybe once a month) now. I had to get a strange wraparound retainer to keep the typical one from pushing my canines back up, but at least did not end up with a permanent one. I'm happy with the results.

[lisa78]

I would just like to post some feedback to this group as there are so many people with impacted canines going through this i thought some success stories might help.
I am in the last month of wearing braces to bring down an impacted canine. I've had fixed ceramics on my upper arch for 8 months and my canine tooth is now sitting perfectly in my mouth. My other teeth which weren't too bad really are now completely straight part from one tooth (next to my canine) which just needs pushing forward slightly (this should hopefully be lined up in the next 4 weeks and I ca get my brace off)
I have one false canine on the other side (I had a bridge done many years ago and had the canine removed) I so wish that I just got the braces 10 years ago instead of going down that route. The new canine looks 100% nicer than the fake canine. Anybody debating over having canine teeth removed and implants / bridges fitted one having a brace fitted should defo think again. I you have the option to save your real teeth with braces - DO IT, Seriously, I am a total brace-o-phobic and it was my worst nightmare having to get one in my 30's (I'm 33) but i am so pleased I did it.

[Barb E]

Not exactly impacted...
I'm old as dirt = ) Ok, 51 and this last week broke one of my canines off at the gum line.
In conversation with my dentist he believes that the issue with my front teeth breaking (this is the 3rd in the last 20ish years, all on the top, the other two were the lateral incisors) is my very deep overbite that is putting pressure in an unnatural manner on my teeth.

The dentist feels I should talk to an Orthodontist regarding correcting my bite and the possibility of using braces to draw what is left of the tooth down enough that it could be restored and saved, the tooth (well what is left) appears to be completely healthy at this point visually and via x-rays.

There is concern that we could do this and then in restoration of the tooth it could break and then it would be for naught and I'd have to go with another option, though perhaps my bite would be corrected and no more teeth would break.

Has anyone ever had this done? Where they're bringing down a broken canine just a few millimeters and having it restored?

The weird thing is that *knocking wood* that the tooth doesn't hurt even though it's been snapped off.

Thanks,
Barb

[southernbelle]

It's encouraging to read stories about impacted canines. I have an impacted canine on my upper left side. I was recently put in braces over 2 weeks ago. Still don't have the archwires on. I go back in 2 weeks for the archwire and for a pendulum appliance. I was told I would have the pendulum appliance in for roughly 9 months. I don't have any date set for the surgery to expose my canine and to extract my baby tooth, i'm sure that I will schedule that when I know for sure when I will need it done. I've already consulted with a periodontist and I had a tissue graft in January of this year. The perio wasn't sure if the tissue around where my impacted canine would be able to support the tooth being brought down. They are also using the wilkodonticts procedure (softening of the bone tissue around the tooth) so that it will hopefully be brought down faster.

I always knew that I had a huge issue with a baby tooth intact and the "adult" tooth in the roof of my mouth. My baby tooth is perfect other than the fact that it is a baby tooth. The roots are still strong on it and my dentist assured me that it wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. I am 23 and since I am "younger", I don't want to have any issues with it in 20-30 years from now. I put off the braces and procedure for so long and I know it is time for me to fix my mouth. I was also told that I could get an implant instead of going this route, but due to some other spacing issues and my teeth not being perfect, I figured what the heck. So, i'm going all out. I will be in braces for 24-30 months, hopefully getting them off sooner rather than later. I am 100% satisfied with my ortho and I absolutely LOVE my perio. I feel like i'm in good hands!

[~KMG~]

It has been awhile since I provided an update on my impacted canine progress, so here it goes.....

I have officially become a "failure" story. One full year filled with fun.....A TPA on the roof of my mouth, two chain reattachments (for a total of three exposure surgeries), thousands of dollars spent, and an apparent ankylosed impacted canine. That being said, today was D-Day......and I have waved my white flag. I have accepted that this tooth is perfectly happy where it is, so I am now officially transitioning to plan B, which is an implant. My oral surgeon has been very skeptical all along; however, my ortho has been insistent that oral surgeons always say that since they never get to see the end results. Although, she may be right in many cases, this was not my outcome, but I am still glad I gave it a go.

After a year of pulling on this tooth, with plenty of up's and down's, I am glad that there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel. So for now, my ortho is beginning the finishing work on my braces and I will be consulting with my oral surgeon again for implant planning. It felt sooo good to get that TPA out of my mouth, so that alone made my day! I almost forgot what the roof of my mouth felt like!

Best of luck to those that are currently going through this journey.....there are plenty of success stories, I was just an unlucky one!

[Krys35]

I am 35 years old and just had my braces put on last year to bring down two impacted canines. My baby teeth were still in place but I started to develop an abscess over the top of one of them where the adult canine was sitting. My dentist said if I didn't do something about it I could lose all of my teeth to infection on the top left side of my mouth so I went straight in to see the orthodontist for my braces as my dentist had recommended. I was looking around on-line for information on whether or not others have had success with this process.

I recently had surgery to expose the adult teeth in the roof of my mouth (they are located horizontally behind my front teeth) and pull out the baby teeth. I have chains attached to each tooth and they have been activated by my orthodontist. The surgery took place on June 1, 2012. On June 12th one of the chains came off of one of the teeth and I had to have another chain bonded to the tooth on June 15th. I became nervous when I found out that your impacted tooth can be fused to the bone and the older you are the more likely this can happen. I was pleased to read that there are some people on here around my age that had the teeth pulled down without a problem. I have been taking photos every other day or so just to see if I notice any movement and also to watch the process myself.

I would like to get a good idea of how long it will take to be sure that my teeth are not fused to the bone and also about how long it takes for a tooth to move down into place. When the orthodontist pulled on my teeth to attach the chain and string to the braces, there was no pain on either side. Is this normal? Do you think this could mean that maybe they are not fused?

[buster4444]

Hi I recently had my operation for exposing my canines on the top of my mouth on 18/07/12. They also removed my two baby canines in the process. I have already had a removable brace in for about 6 months "to cure my overbite" and now have a fixed palette until Wednesday (25/07/12) when I have train tracks and the chain attached. Has anyone else had it similar or this way round and if so does getting it done hurt a lot? I suppose I'm officially in the club!

[Crystaalx]

Hello! Well I guess I have a similar sort of problem except my canine tooth was misplaced and was on top of my left front tooth. It had already cut off a lot of my root for that tooth and my ortho was concerned that if left or taken out my tooth would fall out in another ten years and I'd need an implant. (which is quite expensive and painful) So I pulled the tooth out and now I have a gold chain on the canine. The x-rays show that it's sitting quite vertically so I was wondering how long do you think it'll take to grow out? I'm 15, will it grow out quicker because I'm still growing/younger? Is there anything I can do to quicken the process?

[Titealex]

Unfortunately i am also part of the club.
I have had my braces on now for almost 2 years and my impacted canine still hasn't budged. My orthodontist recommends having a second exposure surgery to see if the canine is mobile, or if something is in its way. I am sooooo discouraged and tired of all of this. My other option is an implant and i'm seriously considering it.
I'm relieved to see that i am not the only person with this problem!

[Ashybear]

I'm part of this unfortunate club also. I had my baby tooth removed on May 29 and then the adult tooth exposed and a chain attached. They haven't started pulling the tooth forward yet because they're still waiting for the tooth next to it to come forward. And there is always the risk that the tooth has ankylosed and won't move.... Eeeeep!

[danak002]

Hey! So I moved from New York to Florida and am finding a new orthodontist since I am a transfer with an impacted canine (surgery is already done, just have to get the stupid tooth the rest of the way down). I just went to a consultation today where the ortho told me that for their impacted teeth/exposures they do adjustments every 3 days and she would want to see me at least every week to pull the tooth down. Is this normal? My other ortho and every other ortho I have seen were fine with doing adjustments monthly. If this will make the process go faster, I am all for it, however I am worried that this may damage the root! Please let me know if anyone else has heard of this! It is a newer ortho office with all sorts of new technology, however I'm not sure this process would work well since these aren't her brackets!

[Stephanie73]

Hi, I am hoping someone can answer this question. My daughter is 13 and just recently saw an orthodontist. She was told one of her canines is becoming impacted. They recommended the surgery to attach a bracket and pull it down with braces. Her teeth are great otherwise, she still has 8 baby teeth, and they want to pull the baby canines, which I am fine with. But do you think she is young enough that if they make room by pulling her baby tooth, her tooth may come down on its own? The adult canine is coming in at a downward angle towards the root of the second tooth from the front. I hope this makes sense, and I hope someone can answer my questions. Thank you!

[salsashark]

I'm another member of the impacted canines club. I had my baby tooth pulled and exposure surgery almost a week ago now. I have another week before my appointment with ortho. When I had my consultation they originally said it was likely they would remove the impacted canine but that they wanted a scan to see whether it was attached to the bone (and also to see where my wisdom teeth were in relation to nerves). When I went back for the scan and procedure I had a different surgeon than my consult and he took the scan and suggested we do exposure and try to bring the tooth down. I found out that my lower wisdom teeth are really close to a sensory nerve and I'm a high risk for permanent numbness so I opted to not remove them (they said it was fine but if they ever cause me problems in the future I'll have to remove them).

I'm 27 (almost 28) so I worry that my tooth won't want to come down but the surgeon has high hopes. He said there was some movement just from the surgery. Apparently I was a very easy surgery and the exposure went really well. I can't wait to see what my ortho thinks of it (as the last thing he knew was my telling him that the other surgeon thought it would come out). I asked the surgeon to try to get my ortho on the phone (it's been an annoying process going to a surgeon outside of my usual dentist and ortho, they don't seem to communicate well at all despite my leaving messages of when all my appointments are and my ortho keeps telling me "let him know I will talk to him" etc.)

I have pretty severe overcrowding and apparently too many teeth for my mouth and my ortho said there were many different ways we could go about this. If the tooth doesn't come down I won't need an implant, the ortho will just move another tooth into that spot. If it does come down, he'll extract another tooth. From reading every one's stories it seems like I might be in braces longer than two years...

[JavaMan]

Well, three weeks ago I had last baby tooth extracted, and the "sleeping" tooth below was "unearthed", a bracket bonded to it with a chain and the gum sewn back over it.
It surely was not a comfortable procedure!
So I was curious to hear how many of you out there who went through the same procedure chose to go the I.V. Sedation route for such a procedure vs. just local anesthetics?

[salsashark]

I had only local anesthetic. It was a bit uncomfortable but I wasn't in any real pain.