Specialty Dentistry and Oral Surgery
Sidney is a young male Shetland Sheepdog that has a condition common to Shelties called “lance tooth”. The upper canine tooth is attempting to erupt in front of the lower canine. Its proper position is behind it. There is a persistent baby incisor (small pointed tooth) that is causing its adult counterpart to come in abnormally traumatizing the lower jaw and incisor.
Correction of this problem involves extraction of the baby incisor and moving the canine tooth down and back. The tooth is temporarily lengthened using dental composite to create a more favorable angle for backward movement.
Two brackets are placed on the canine tooth. Following removal of the baby incisor we might expect that the adult incisor may move to fill its void creating a more favorable position and eliminating the trauma it is causing.
In order for the upper canine to move past the lower the mouth must remain open slightly. A bite block is constructed on the back of both lower first molars to accomplish this. Note the buildup on the far left portion of this molar.
Brackets are constructed on anchor teeth to allow for proper downward and backward tooth movement. A rubber band must be used on the lower jaw due to the fact that it is more elastic preventing it from breaking during yawning.
Movement is near completion. The incisor has moved to fill the void left by the baby incisor and will likely pose no concerns.
The result after removal of the active force device, cleaning and polishing. Total movement took about six weeks. The owners had to delay this visit and the right maxillary canine tooth has moved a bit too far.
Recheck several weeks later shows that the canine tooth has drifted back to a more desirable position. The lateral incisor has also moved into the space created by the extraction of the primary incisor.
