Caring and Comfortable Oral Surgery

for Unerupted Teeth

Maxillary canine teeth (also known as upper cuspids or “eyeteeth”) are the pointed teeth on either side of the lateral incisors, which are next to your central incisors (two upper front teeth). When one of these teeth, which are crucial to the alignment of other teeth, is impacted, it’s unable to emerge (or “erupt”) completely and gets stuck beneath the surface of the gums. It can also partially erupt and become displaced, causing it to come in crooked. 

Third molars (wisdom teeth) are the most commonly impacted teeth in Papillon, NE, due to their long development time and lack of space, followed by maxillary canines, which are typically one of the last teeth to erupt into the arch. Canines in the lower jaw rarely become impacted, but impacted or displaced canines in the upper jaw, which primarily affect children and adolescents, usually only occur on one side. Impacted canines are twice as common in females as in males, with an estimated overall incidence of 0.9%–2.2%. Impaction can occur due to genetics, inadequate space, prolonged or early loss of primary canines, and problems with lateral incisors (e.g., they’re absent or come in crooked). Canine exposure surgery in Papillon, NE is a procedure in which our skilled and caring oral surgeon Dr. Afolabi Ogunleye assists eruption of an impacted tooth through the gumline.