IMPACTED CANINES CLUB

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jadeyMarie25
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Nov 19, 2012 3:56 pm

Re: IMPACTED CANINES CLUB

#211 Post by jadeyMarie25 »

Hi all!
Im another official member
I seem to be quite a bit further along then most tho.
my impacted canine was horizontal laying behind my front four teeth.. was starting to cause damage and this is where the story begins.
I had my surgery just over a year ago, 15 November 2011 baby canine removed, four wisdoms and the chain being attached. I went for full sedative! Out like i light

My braces got fitted a couple weeks later and a spring to make the gap big enough. I had my chain hooked to my shiny metal work in April time. Our appointments here are 6/8 weeks which annoys me

But this evening i can feel it breaking through my palette. Can literally feel the metal plate!!! Painful yet so good!!


I hope everyone's treatment is going well!!!
Im 25 and they told me they expect it to me a few years before it shows due to its placement at the other side of my mouth but its here!

So don't lose hope with what they tell ya.

I quite like changing the colour of my brace each time i go but boy will i love to have no gap!

Danielle18
Posts: 10
Joined: Tue Oct 26, 2010 9:49 am

Re: IMPACTED CANINES CLUB

#212 Post by Danielle18 »

It's been awhile but i'm checking back in! My canine was fully exposed in June 2012 and I am getting my braces off in 5 weeks! It has been quite the journey but totally worth it! Hope everyone else is having good luck!

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maeby
Posts: 96
Joined: Wed Feb 15, 2012 11:08 am
Location: Texas

Re: IMPACTED CANINES CLUB

#213 Post by maeby »

I just got the okay to go ahead with surgery! I've mentioned it before, but I have two impacted canines: one is essentially in position and it needs to come down, the other is horizontal and will need a lot of help.

Danielle, how long did it take for your canine to come in after exposure? Where was it positioned initially? Thanks in advance!
Read My Braces Story: "Maeby Getting Braces"

Top Arch Braced: April 18, 2012
Bottom Arch: October 9, 2012

Saturius
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2013 5:19 pm

Re: IMPACTED CANINES CLUB

#214 Post by Saturius »

Well I registered to share my story. My left canine was impacted, but once my baby tooth was removed, you could see the very tiny tip of the permanent molar poking from my gums. Everyone (ortho, dentist, and ortho surgeon)thought it would just come right in. Had the exposure surgery and I thought things would go smooth and fast. But then tons of unfortunate things happened.

My original ortho sold her practice to someone else so I ended up with a new ortho( whom I still really liked) and an entirely new staff of assistants. One of the assistants was new/and or training, so every time she tried to tie the string from my impacted tooth to my braces, it always wasn't very tight. I have no doubt she played a role in the delay of my tooth coming down, but I wasn't really bitter as everyone's gotta start somewhere I guess. After months of pulling with the string, there was still very little progress. I was sent back to the same ortho surgeon who again exposed my tooth, but this time removed a TON of bone as well as jiggled it a lot in order to facilitate it coming down some more. Even he was shocked that it had not made progress yet. After that, he was confident it would still come in.

I continued to see my ortho regularly every 4 weeks to re-tighten my string in order for my canine to come down. After MANY more months, things still weren't looking that good, and my ortho finally tells me that I might just have to get it removed and go with an implant. At that point, I was sad because I only got braces in the first place to pull down my canine. Getting a dental implant would have been a financial strain that I wasn't looking forward to dealing with. Then randomly, during one of my visits many more months later, the ortho happily exclaimed that my tooth had come down just enough to where they could finally put a bracket on it. They did, and ever since then the tooth has moved like gangbusters. It's now practically all the way down and in place.

Now the semi bad part. This has taken about 3 and a half years(!). I was originally told it would only be about 18-24 months. Plus, like I said, my impacted tooth was in an excellent position and was thought that it would be quick and easy for it to come in. But the reality just did not work out that way. I wanted to tell this story so as to inspire people to not give up and lose heart. There were many times where I thought that this just was not going to work. But luckily my ortho did EVERYTHING and exhausted all her options before she would give in, and I'm so glad she never stopped trying, because her hard work has paid off. So I just wanted to remind people that you just never know how teeth are going to move and react. Having an impacted canine will really test your patience, but you have to be just that: patient. And really make sure you're ortho has used ALL possible options before you settle for a implant or something. Good luck to everyone else and feel free to ask more questions if anyone is still curious about any aspect of the impacted canine process. I know others' stories and experiences were a great comfort for me during this trying time.

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maeby
Posts: 96
Joined: Wed Feb 15, 2012 11:08 am
Location: Texas

Re: IMPACTED CANINES CLUB

#215 Post by maeby »

Thanks for posting your story, Saturius! I'm sorry you had such a long journey, but it's great to hear that it was worth it, despite your troubles.

I was able to get a copy of my panoramic x-ray from my oral surgeon today and thought I'd share, because it's a great illustration of two types of impacted teeth.

He said that the canine on the right of the x-ray looks good, but it will require more space for it to move down fully (I can't imagine the gap possibly needing to be bigger, but here we are).

The canine on the left is laying almost flat in the roof of my mouth. He was less certain about whether that one was going to move, because at my "advanced age" (his words), the ligaments that surround the tooth could have turned to bone(ankylose). He said that when he creates the "tunnel" through the thin layer of bone in the palette to the tooth, he'll try to wiggle it--and if it wiggles, there's a good chance it will move down. He estimated that it'll take eight months or more for that tooth to come in.

Panoramic x-ray:

Image
Read My Braces Story: "Maeby Getting Braces"

Top Arch Braced: April 18, 2012
Bottom Arch: October 9, 2012

Danielle18
Posts: 10
Joined: Tue Oct 26, 2010 9:49 am

Re: IMPACTED CANINES CLUB

#216 Post by Danielle18 »

I got my braces October 2010, had my exposure surgery April 2011, my canine broke the gum December 2011, the tooth was pretty much done June 2012 and is finally mostly in place as of now. So... it took about 21 months for my tooth to come done completely. However, everyone is different. I can honestly say now that looking back, it didn't feel like that long. I also started the process when I was 21 so I don't think that helps. Please feel free to ask any other questions regarding this process. I remember being SO nervous about it in the begining but couldn't find answers anywhere. It seems that the only people who write about canine exposure on the internet are people who did not have success.
maeby wrote:I just got the okay to go ahead with surgery! I've mentioned it before, but I have two impacted canines: one is essentially in position and it needs to come down, the other is horizontal and will need a lot of help.

Danielle, how long did it take for your canine to come in after exposure? Where was it positioned initially? Thanks in advance!

charlotter97
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Feb 14, 2013 2:40 pm

Re: IMPACTED CANINES CLUB

#217 Post by charlotter97 »

hello guys! this is my first post, and im not sure whether im official in the club or not?
i'm 15 and recently had my baby canine removed which to be fair has left a gap which im not too proud of! but my ortho wants to leave it a few months to see if the tooth will come through by itself? it has started to slightly come through already considering it was taken out last week! but its started growing right in the corner!

has anyone else had this approach before, and if it doesnt grow through, does anyone have a clue what the next procedure will be?
also, my teeth are straight and were not in need of braces (however i'm glad i asked so i can get it all done now instead of when i was older!) would i be able to ask my ortho just for braces (if i need them) on the top teeth where the impacted canine is?

thanks very much!

bonjo
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Mar 03, 2013 5:07 pm

Re: IMPACTED CANINES CLUB (1975)

#218 Post by bonjo »

I stumbled upon this forum today & thought I would post my story, from approx. 1975 (Orange County Calif.).

I had horizontally impacted canines waaay back in the the mid 1970s when it was almost unheard of. I was in high school. Both of mine were impacted. I only knew of one other person at the time with one impacted canine. Her experience was successful; mine was not.

Be patient, you have a much, much better chance of a positive experience these days due to advancements in dentisty than those of us years ago.

Back then, had my dentist & orthodontist acted sooner, I may have had a successful experience. Instead, they waited until I was 15 to act on my still having 2 baby teeth. My canines were horizontal and may have attached to the bone by then because I now know that the bone in the roof of my mouth, as well as the roots on my front teeth, were damaged from the surgery.

I still wonder had they just left them alone would my teeth have been ok or could the impacted teeth have pushed out my front teeth, as my doctors invisioned (?)....

I got braces around 1972 (the metal kind-the clear braces were not introduced until some time later).
Around 1974 my doctors finally started wondering why I still had two baby teeth (canines).

My first surgery was not to reveal the teeth (because they were so far up into the roof of mouth), but was instead, to remove my baby canines & to attach chains w/ wires around the impacted teeth. For about a year my orthodontist did the usual tightening of the chains by using elastic thread that was attached to my braces and to the chains exposed from the roof of my mouth. The teeth barely budged.

The second surgery was to "reveal" the teeth and glue a brace to each tooth, instead of the chain attached to the tooth like you see nowadays), in which the orthodontist used elastic thread that he replaced & tightened each month (with this method you cannot tell the progress, like you can with the links of a chain). The teeth did not come down.

The third surgery was to remove the impacted canines along with my wisdom teeth that, at the time, were not giving me any problems but back then, they were removed anyway.

In 1977, 5 years of having braces, I was given a retainer with two artificial teeth attached to it; subsequently a year later, I receivd a metal bridge that had two new artificial teeth (the canines). I had that for many years without any problems until 2007 when the two teeth that were on either side of my missing canines (2nd from center front) began to suddenly loosen.

It turned out that the oral surgeon who had done the surgery on my canines back in the 70's had damaged the roots of the upper front teeth & the bone in the roof of my mouth when he removed the impacted canines. The two teeth (2nd from center) had to be removed...and this did not mean surgery, the dentist litterally just tugged on the two teeth and they came out...with very little root on either because they had been cut by the original oral surgeon.

This dentist, awesome by the way, had his lab attach two new artificial teeth (to replace the ones I just lost)to my removeable bridge, in addition to replacing the original two (so they all matched) and they all look as close to natural as can be.

Time will tell if my remaining two front teeth will also need to be replaced because the last xrays showed the roots being barely visible (they may have been damaged by the surgery in the 70s as well).

Because of the bone being damaged/removed(?) back in the 70s there was not enough support for implants, which I checked into around 1993).

I am always careful not to bite down on food. Just to be safe.

Spring1onu
Posts: 33
Joined: Wed Feb 27, 2013 8:13 am

Re: IMPACTED CANINES CLUB

#219 Post by Spring1onu »

Bonjo - an interesting story. I'm sorry for all the grief you went through, but glad you have a dentist who was able to give you functionality and aesthetics with your bridge.

Your story is very interesting to me as I have an impacted canine (it's right above my two front teeth) and upon an X-ray last week, my ortho thinks it maybe causing root resorption in my left central incisor. I had to undergo a 3-D cone beam scan to determine for sure if there is damage to the root. I am nervous and am hoping that isn't the case. I don't want to lose my front tooth :shock:

I had a bridge placed where the canine is missing, which I completely regret. The dentist who did it did a pretty bad job. Not only doesn't it look good, it's not functional. If I had known how important it was to get the impacted canine down/out due to damage to the roots of existing teeth, I would've done so before even thinking about having a bridge placed. Anyway, what's done is done - hopefully it can all be fixed.....I've been reassured it can be, but obviously I'm nervous, lol.

Thank you for sharing your story - and welcome to the boards! Dental technology has come such a long way and I'm so thankful! :-)

Spring1onu
Posts: 33
Joined: Wed Feb 27, 2013 8:13 am

Re: IMPACTED CANINES CLUB

#220 Post by Spring1onu »

Bonjo - could they have performed a bone graft in order to place an implant? Just curious :)

progress!
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Joined: Sat Mar 16, 2013 9:42 pm

Re: IMPACTED CANINES CLUB

#221 Post by progress! »

I registered just to share my story too, as I thought it might give some folks hope that it doesn't always take forever. I had one canine that came through my gums, but was rather attractively (not) sitting above my other teeth. The other was still impacted (also in the gums, not palatially). I don't have the adult number two teeth, that are supposed to be between the canines and the front teeth. Never did, actually. So, at the time of braces I had four baby teeth (two number twos, two canines), a funky adult canine and an impacted one.

I got my braces last July, so about 8 months ago. Had two baby teeth (the number two and baby canine) pulled, and the funky incisor bracketed right off the bat. That came into line in about two months. Then we move on to closing my gap between my front teeth, and straightening out some teeth on the bottom that were a bit turned. 8 weeks ago, he pulled the other baby canine and number two. He filed the root off the baby canine and bracketed it, and glued it to the front tooth to make the gap smaller.

My impacted canine is now visible, and has pushed the now-dead-but-reattached baby one so much that the glue has come off! That fast! No surgery, no bracket yet. It just came down on it's own. I honestly completed expected that, even though I am 34. In fact, I lost some baby teeth about 6 years ago on the bottom, and the adults came up on their own.

So, next steps are to let that one come down enough to bracket it and pull it down, and then I get TADs, which are going to be used to pull all of my teeth forward to fill the gaps from the missing number twos.

I completely expect to be done with braces within the next 6-8 months. I am really excited about the progress to date. So... don't lose hope. Sometimes, it really is fast!

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sablequeenie
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Re: IMPACTED CANINES CLUB

#222 Post by sablequeenie »

I'm so glad to see this thread has been revived! I too, am apart of this small club...

I'm 23 years old, and my impacted canine is literally the only reason I got braces. My teeth all grew in extremely straight on their own, so much so that when I first got braces everyone was bewildered and kept asking me why I thought I needed them since my teeth were so straight. But, my retained baby canine had always bothered me--especially when I thought it could fall out on its own and then i'd be up a creek since I figured if my adult canine was going to come in on its own it would've by now. So I swallowed my pride and got braced, knowing the aesthetic horrors that lay ahead for me (extraction/exposure surgery). Both my dentist and orthodontist said it was the right choice because the impacted tooth is actually pretty big and could've ended up doing damage to the others if left alone.

I was first braced in August of last year (2012), uppers ceramic, lowers traditional metal. After I got used to the feeling of them I didn't really mind so much. I was just fixated on the impacted canine and whether or not mine would be a success story or one of the hard cases.

I got my baby canine extracted and impacted canine exposed in December. The recovery period from it was kinda messy in that the roof of my mouth felt like silly putty at first and seeing those stitches between my two front teeth kinda made me queasy.

Now I'm at the stage where I'm waiting for the canine to make movement enough to attach the bracket to it so it'll move with the braces, I guess? For anyone's who had this process before maybe you could help me: the oral surgeon attached a sort of black button to the impacted canine with a gold chain, which I thought was the 'bracket' that would pull the tooth in place. But, when I went back to the orthodontist last (February), she said it'll be another visit or two before they can attach the bracket. What will they do with the button when the bracket's put on, since there really isn't that much room on the tooth right now. I guess I'm just confused as to which is which and what they do separately.

It's been a sloooow process to me, but I think I can admit now that I'm seeing progress in the tooth coming down. It was in the roof of my mouth and first there was nothing but a gaping hole where the baby tooth had been extracted. Now since my last ortho visit last month I can see the bottom of the tooth peeping from the gum line without having to tilt my head back at all, which is what I'd been doing around January. Does this sound like good progress??

CCandy
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Joined: Thu Mar 12, 2009 5:39 pm

Re: IMPACTED CANINES CLUB

#223 Post by CCandy »

sablequeenie wrote: Now I'm at the stage where I'm waiting for the canine to make movement enough to attach the bracket to it so it'll move with the braces, I guess? For anyone's who had this process before maybe you could help me: the oral surgeon attached a sort of black button to the impacted canine with a gold chain, which I thought was the 'bracket' that would pull the tooth in place. But, when I went back to the orthodontist last (February), she said it'll be another visit or two before they can attach the bracket. What will they do with the button when the bracket's put on, since there really isn't that much room on the tooth right now. I guess I'm just confused as to which is which and what they do separately.


This was the longest part for me was the bringing the impacted canine into place. Once they finisih using the button to bring it in place they will attach it to the wire to finish the process of moving it in line with all the others. Like you, I also assumed that they would attach the tooth to the braces earlier but it didn't happen until it was almost all the way pulled over. Your canine will use the same equipment all your other teeth do at this stage to bring them all in line and make your teeth straight.

Hope that helps!

Spring1onu
Posts: 33
Joined: Wed Feb 27, 2013 8:13 am

Re: IMPACTED CANINES CLUB

#224 Post by Spring1onu »

Wow Progress! that's awesome that it just came down on its own. I can only hope this is the case for me, lol. Extremely fast - wow! We are going to do all we can to salvage this impacted canine. At my final consultation yesterday, the ortho seemed pretty optimistic (as much as you can be) and said one very good thing we have working in our favor is that the root of the canine is actually where it's supposed to be and it's a matter of moving the tooth to its home.

I've had an open space forever where the canine was supposed to be so I don't think once exposed it will just move on its own (wishful thinking on my part!), but do hope it will move. It's vertical (pretty much) and very close to where it's supposed to be and labially impacted instead of in the palate. I just hope the impacted tooth gods are on my side, LOL!

Thanks for sharing :)

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sablequeenie
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Re: IMPACTED CANINES CLUB

#225 Post by sablequeenie »

More good news/update!

I went to my dentist two weeks ago to have my teeth cleaned; I voiced some concerns over my lateral incisor (tooth next to impacted canine) hurting, so she took an x-ray of the area and said that it was just due to tension from tooth movement and my impacted canine is growing down in perfect position! I saw it and compared to my initial x-ray I do have to say it looks like it's gonna come down just right; all it'll need is to bring it forward an inch or two to line up with the other teeth...

Which made me even more relieved when I went back to the orthodontist last Monday and he said that the tooth's coming down so well they took all but two links off of my chain, and on my next fitting (May 23rd) they're gonna attach the braces bracket to it!!! I was so relieved to hear this, and I've been even happier to see it actually appearing in the gum line myself. Now when I pull my lip back you can see the entire bottom of the tooth sticking out of the gum. Now I'm soooo anxious for the rest of it to appear. My biggest fear is that somehow it'll suddenly slow down in movement when it's obvious I'm making good progress...

C'monc'mon'cmon toothie, you can do it! I'm sick of smiling with my mouth closed and covering my mouth when I laugh because I'm embarrassed by my gap lol
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