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Impaction of both mandibular canine and lateral incisor is a rare clinical finding which is often treated by way of surgical extraction. This decision is often taken because of the anatomical limitations presented by the mandible, and the horizontal position of the impacted teeth, which have occasionally transmigrated, placing them in close proximity to the roots of neighboring teeth and with a high risk for causing their resorption. In addition, this condition significantly increases the likelihood that the area involved will undergo gingival recession and loss of crestal bone if an unsophisticated ortho-surgical approach is undertaken. The present report describes a novel ortho-surgical technique which maintains the alveolar crestal bone and utilizes a lingual arch attached to the first molars with traction through tunneling with super-elastic springs. This combined approach eliminated the need for extraction of the impacted teeth, and accomplished their full alignment without any of the aforementioned side effects. Every dentist (general practitioners as well as specialists) should be aware of this procedure and refer patients to a specialist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To investigate the prevalence and severity of a labial-cervical-vertical groove (LCVG) in maxillary permanent incisors and its effect on the associated gingival tissue. Methods: A total of 600 adolescents (293 boys and 307 girls, mean age 13.6 ± 1.99 years) were randomly selected and examined for the presence of LCVG. The deformity was classified as mild, moderate, or severe according to predetermined criteria. Gingival coverage at the groove site was defined as normal, partial, and irregular. Results: LCVG was found in 27 adolescents (4.5%). It was unilateral in 24(89%) and bilateral in 3 (11%). The ratio of central to lateral incisors was 29:1. No sexual dimorphism or side prevalence were found. Mild LCVG was found in 22 incisors, moderate LCVG in 7 incisors, and severe LCVG in one incisor. Moderate LCVG was 5 to 6 times more susceptible to partial or irregular coverage of the gingival margin than mild LCVG. The gingival sulcus in teeth with LCVG demonstrated a significant (P = .001) increase in depth compared to non-LCVG teeth (1.55 ± 0.90 mm vs 1.18 ± 0.75 mm). Conclusions: An LCVG is a deformity confined predominantly to a single permanent maxillary central incisor. Its prevalence is not connected with gender. Most LCVGs are mild and often difficult to detect. However, the greater the severity, the more gingival irregularity is associated. This and the increase in sulcus depth in LCVG incisors are adverse predispositions for periodontal sequelae, calling for cautious oral hygiene maintenance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vardimon AD, Levy T, Weinreb M. Maxillary incisor root resorption after rapid palatal expansion inFelis catus.Eur J Oral Sci 2005; 113: 41–46.© Eur J Oral Sci, 2005Root resorption after rapid palatal expansion (RPE) treatment was found in anchored teeth but has not been studied on non-anchored incisors. This study evaluated root resorption, root tipping, and root proximity of maxillary incisors after RPE treatment. Fourteen cats were divided into treated (n = 10) and untreated (n = 4) groups. The RPE treatment consisted of active, retention, and relapse phases, lasting 25, 60 and 60 d, respectively. Standardized occlusal radiographs were taken to measure tipping and root proximity before and after each treatment phase. Maxillary incisors were analysed histologically by fluorescent microscopy for root resorption. Data was analysed statistically withanovawith repeated measures,t-test and Pearson's coefficient of correlation. Root resorption was confined to the first incisors and was 750-fold greater in the treated vs. the control group. Root tipping and root proximity were significantly greater (2.5- and 17-fold, respectively) in the first than in the second maxillary incisor and highly correlated with root resorption (r = −0.927 and 0.723, respectively). This suggests a cause (tipping and root proximity) and effect (root resorption) relationship. Data suggest that first maxillary incisor susceptibility to root resorption during RPE is associated with severe tipping and root proximity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anchorage loss (AL) is a potential side effect of orthodontic mechanotherapy. In the present study, it is defined as the amount of mesial movement of the upper first permanent molar during premolar extraction space closure. In addition, AL is described as a multifactorial response in relation to the extraction site, appliance type, age, crowding, and overjet. For this study, 87 university clinic and private practice subjects, who were defined as maximum anchorage cases and had undergone bilateral maxillary premolar extractions, were divided into four groups according to extraction site (first vs second premolars), mechanics (lingual vs labial edgewise appliances), and age (adolescents vs adults). Overjet and crowding were examined from the overall sample. Data were collected from serial lateral cephalograms and dental casts. The results showed that as the severity of dental crowding increased, AL significantly decreased (r = -0.66, P = .001). Labial edgewise appliances demonstrated a significantly greater AL than did lingual edgewise appliances (1.15 ± 2.06 mm, P < .05). A greater, though not statistically significant, AL was found in adults than in adolescents (0.73 ± 1.43 mm). There was a slight nonsignificant increase in AL between maxillary second compared with first premolar extractions (0.51 ± 1.33 mm). Overjet was weakly correlated to AL. These results suggest that AL is a multifactorial response and that the five examined factors can be divided into primary (crowding, mechanics) and secondary factors (age, extraction site, overjet), in declining order of importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To examine contact point (CP) tightness of the mandibular dental arch in cases with a unilateral first molar (M1) missing, and also investigate the influence of time since extraction on CPs tightness. Methods: CPs tightness was measured with a lightness of dental contact point device in 29 patients (9 men, 20 women), mean age 32.6 ± 6.5 years, with a unilateral missing M1 and no periodontal disease. ANOVA with repeated measures test was used to statistically compare CP tightness between extraction (E) and non-extraction (NE) sides, at significant level of P≤ 0.05, with CPNE serving as internal control. Results: The first CP adjacent to the extraction site between the first and second premolar (CP4-5,E) was significantly (P≤ 0.001) lower (29%) than CP4-5,NE. The difference (NE-E) was reduced to 20% at the more anterior CP (CP3-4,E) which was close to but non-significant (P≤ 0.09). Further anterior CPs (CP2-3, CP1-2) showed a non-significant difference between homologous CPs. Thus, reduction in CP tightness was confined to two adjacent teeth anterior to the extraction site. The tightness reduction of the posterior dentition (CP4-5 + CP3-4) was obtained 3 years post-extraction and subsequently maintained a constant asymmetry ratio (E/NE = 0.68-0.80) up to 14 years post-extraction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is commonly assumed that dental wear in general and parafacets in particular can reflect on cultural and behavioral activities in prehistoric populations. Parafacets were defined as nonmasticatory wear areas that have no antagonist matching wear facets. Recently, a study on parafacets in Middle Paleolithic populations has drawn conclusions regarding differences in cultural behavior between different human groups from the Levant. This study aimed to re-examine the identification of parafacets in some of the early modern humans from Qafzeh (Qafzeh 9, Qafzeh 15 and Qafzeh 11) for whom full dentition of both the upper and lower jaws is preserved. In order to evaluate the presence of the parafacets, the jaws were first articulated into maximal intracuspation relation. Occlusion relationship was evaluated in both antero-posterior and transverse dimensions. Once this was accomplished, lateral excursion movements of the mandible were performed until edge to edge contact was achieved in the canines. In problematic situations, where difficulty was met in attempt to evaluate occlusion status, i.e. the mandible could not be fitted to the maxilla properly; a setup was used to evaluate occlusion. Based on findings of our research we suggest that the attrition facets mistakenly considered as parafacets are in fact the result of the static and dynamic occlusion. We here propose several guidelines to ensure proper identification of parafacets in skeletal material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]