Canine Exposure

What prevents canines from normal eruption?
What are the treatment stages?
How is exposure performed?
Necessary X-rays

What prevents canines from normal eruption?
The adult canine teeth erupt between ages of 12 to 14. However, they may become impacted, stuck or misaligned during the development phase. There may also be crowding or inadequate space resulting in impaction of the canines. The orthodontist will request a canine exposure to be done by the oral surgeon to aid them in realigning the canine tooth.

What are the treatment stages?
Your orthodontist has already placed the braces to align your teeth. During this process, adequate space is created to accommodate eventual eruption of the canines into their proper position.

Dr. Kazemi will expose the impacted canine and place a bracket which has a short chain attached to it. This small chain (gold in color) is ligated to the braces to allow easy access for the orthodontist. If the primary (baby) canine is present, it is extracted at the same time.

Orthodontist can begin the canine eruption in 7-10 days. Elastic bands are placed on the chain that activates the eruption process. A new elastic band is placed once a month until the canine has emerged through the gum tissue. It is then aligned with the rest of the teeth.

How is exposure performed?
Canine exposure is a 30-45 minute procedure, often performed under IV sedation or nitrous oxide. The baby or primary canine, if still in place, is first extracted. Gum tissue is lifted either on the roof of the mouth or on the front, depending on the position of the canine. Bone covering the tooth is conservatively removed. A special bracket with a chain is then glued to the tooth. Finally sutures are placed to reposition the gum tissue. The chain part of the bracket is ligated to the braces for the orthodontist’s access. The orthodontist can begin to guide the tooth in a week after procedure. This is performed via elastics placed on the chain and changed once a month or as necessary until the canine tooth has erupted.

Necessary X-rays
A panoramic x-ray is the minimum X-ray necessary for canine exposure. This may be complemented with small dental X-rays as needed. Also, in some occasions a CT scan may be helpful which provides 3-dimensional image of the impacted canine.