Palatally impacted maxillary canines: choice of surgical-orthodontic treatment method does not influence post-treatment periodontal status. A controlled prospective study.

There is lack of consensus with respect to the preferred surgical procedure for the treatment of palatally impacted maxillary canines. The aim of this study was to evaluate post-treatment periodontal status of palatally impacted canines treated by open technique with free eruption and closed flap technique and compare it with naturally erupted canines. The subjects comprised 43 patients treated for unilateral palatally impacted maxillary canines and examined 4.19 +/- 1.44 months (3-6 months) after removal of the fixed appliance. The group 1 comprised subjects treated by open technique with free eruption (n = 22) and group 2 by closed technique (n = 21). Post-treatment examination comprised periodontal and radiographic examination. There were no significant intergroup differences with respect to periodontal pocket depth or bone support. However, compared with contralateral quadrants with normally erupted canines, quadrants with impacted canines exhibited significant bone loss at the distal contact point of the lateral incisor and the mesial contact point of the canine. The duration of treatment was 28.41 +/- 4.96 months for group 1 and 32.19 +/- 11.73 months for group 2 (P > 0.05). The mean treatment time required to achieve eruption/extrusion of the impacted canine was 3.05 +/- 1.07 months for group 1 and 6.86 +/- 4.53 months (P < 0.01) for group 2. It is concluded that choice of surgical method is not associated with any significant differences in post-treatment periodontal status of palatally impacted canines and adjacent teeth.