Tooth Position Anomaly

A tooth may be crowded, rotated, displaced, impacted, or erupt in the wrong part of the arch. The bite can also show an upper or lower jaw relationship that puts teeth well ahead of their opposing teeth.

Inherited traits, a mismatch between tooth size and available space, missing teeth, trauma, and differences in jaw shape can displace a tooth. Thumb sucking and long-term pacifier use can also contribute to malocclusion.

Tooth position is followed through the primary dentition, mixed dentition, permanent dentition, and early adulthood. In mixed dentition, radiographs can identify whether a tooth is absent, extra, fused, unusually shaped, or developing in an abnormal path.

Crowding, early loss of baby teeth, inadequate arch space, and ectopic eruption increase the chance that a tooth will not enter the arch as expected. Trauma and a missing tooth can also change the available path and space.

Examination records the tooth positions and bite. Panoramic, periapical, and occlusal radiographs can locate unerupted teeth and show root development, resorption, tooth number, tooth shape, and the relationship to nearby structures.

Treatment can preserve space after early tooth loss, regain lost space, guide eruption, or use orthodontic tooth movement. In permanent dentition, orthodontic treatment can be considered to establish a stable and functional occlusion.

The clinical work can include radiographs to locate and assess the tooth, space maintenance or regaining during development, and orthodontic treatment if the tooth must be moved into a functional bite.

Crowding can trap food where brushing and cleaning between teeth are difficult, increasing plaque buildup, tooth decay, and gingivitis. Malocclusion can also be associated with impacted teeth, jaw problems, damage to opposing teeth, and tooth loss.

Restoring decayed baby teeth and preserving space after a premature loss can reduce the risk of a later space shortage. Monitoring eruption in the mixed dentition can identify an abnormal path before the permanent dentition is complete.