Impacted Canine - How does the ortho determine...

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#1 Post by **2thjewelry** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 8:22 pm

...whether or not the tooth is ankylosed?

In an impacted canine that isn't making fast progress in coming in, I'm wondering how the orthodontist makes a determination on whether or not the tooth is ankylosed. If it can't be seen in x-ray, how do you know for certain whether the tooth is fused, or just stubborn and difficult to move?

#2 Post by **2thjewelry** » Thu Feb 09, 2006 12:24 pm

Hmmmmm... Wouldn't you think someone could come up with a better way to assess this than an educated guess? I wonder how often they end up pulling out and replacing a stubborn tooth (not ankylosed) only because they didn't find the right method to bring in the impacted tooth, or because they didn't give it enough time?