Unusual approach to treat malocclusion with traumatically missing and hopeless maxillary unilateral incisors: A case report

Abstract

Orthodontic cases requiring tooth extraction sometimes involve post-traumatic incisors. For adolescent cases in which trauma causes the maxillary unilateral incisors to be missing or have poor prognoses, it is worth considering these teeth as candidates for extraction, and this unusual approach is seldom reported in the literature. An adolescent patient with a missing maxillary left lateral incisor and an ankylosed maxillary left central incisor sought treatment for dental protrusion and crowding. An unusual orthodontic approach was used, which involved the extraction of the maxillary left central incisor and mandibular first premolars. After treatment, the maxillary right central incisor was successfully translocated across the midpalatal suture and transformed into the left central incisor. Additionally, well-aligned teeth and enhanced smile aesthetics were achieved, and the treatment outcomes remained stable throughout the follow-up period.