Management of Displaced Maxillary Canines by Extraction of the Primary Canine: Factors Affecting Treatment Outcome

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of interceptive primary canine extraction in palatally and buccally displaced maxillary permanent canines, and to analyze the clinical and radiographic factors affecting the treatment outcome. 97 maxillary permanent canines from 86 patients whose maxillary permanent canine were in the mesio-occlusal directions and overlapped with the roots of the adjacent teeth were analyzed. In 64 of 97 (66.0%) maxillary permanent canines, the displaced crown was completely deviated from the adjacent lateral incisor root only by extraction of the primary canine. Not only the characteristics of maxillary permanent canines such as bucco-palatal displacement direction, horizontal and vertical position of the crown tip, and presence of apical closure, but also periapical rarefaction on the primary canine and peg-shaped adjacent lateral incisor significantly affected the treatment outcome.