JCDA Jan 2014 | Page 37

jcda ca ESSENTIAL DENTAL KNOWLEDGE The following is a summary of an article recently published in the Clinical Dentistry The Canadian Dental Association section of the JCDA website. For the full version, see jcda.ca. Published by jadc Clinical Summaries DES CONNAISSANCES DENTAIRES INDISPENSABLES Clinical Reports Publié par l’Association dentaire canadienne Fixed Orthodontic Appliances in the Management of Severe Dental Trauma in Mixed Dentition: A Case Report Fouad-Hassan Ebrahim, BSc, DDS; Gajanan Kulkarni, BDS, LLB, MSc, D Ped Dent, PhD, FRCD(C) Abstract We describe a case of complex trauma to the early mixed dentition in which tooth avulsion, intrusion, extrusion and lateral luxation were managed effectively using a fixed, non-rigid orthodontic splint after treatment with a traditional wirecomposite splint had failed. The use of orthodontic brackets and flexible wires provided several advantages, such as the ability to splint severely malpositioned teeth; easy assessment without removing the splint; slow, gentle repositioning of traumatized teeth; and gradual reestablishment of the arch form allowing for ease of future prosthodontic rehabilitation. Failing wire-composite splint used to treat severe complex dental trauma sustained by a 7-year-old boy (top). Orthodontic splint constructed using buccal tubes on the primary second molars, edgewise brackets on the primary canines and traumatized permanent incisors, and a 0.015” coaxial stainless steel wire (bottom). More online Complete case report and additional photos at: jcda.ca/article/d131 jcda ca | 2014 | Vol. 80, No. 1 | ESSENTIAL DENTAL KNOWLEDGE Published by The Canadian Dental Association jcdaf ca I n this case report, we describe the use of a fixed orthodontic appliance to manage complex dental trauma in a pediatric patient after failure of a conventional wirecomposite splint. A 7-year-old boy presented to a private dental practice after sustaining severe orofacial trauma 2 weeks earlier. A wire-composite splint that had been constructed by a pediatric dentist following the injury was failing. At the time of injury, no manual repositioning had been undertaken. As the wire-composite splint began to debond, the patient’s mother sought a second opinion from a general dentist, who deemed the teeth unsalvageable because of their persistent mobility and the failure to facilitate stabilization and periodontal healing. The dentist recommended that teeth 12, 11 and 22 be extracted and prosthetic treatment be deferred for the future. Dissatisfied with this treatment plan, the patient’s mother sought treatment from another pediatric dentist, the corresponding author. Clinical examination revealed that the patient was in the early mixed dentition stage. His medical history was non-contributory. The boy had sustained severe trauma as well as a periodontal degloving injury to the maxillary permanent incisors. The right maxillary lateral incisor (tooth 12) was severely extruded (about 5 mm) and displaced lingually; it displayed M3 mobility and was traumatically occluding on the mandibular incisors. The right maxillary central incisor (tooth 11) was intruded approximately 4 mm and luxated laterally with its apex perforating the fractured buccal cortical plate; it also had an ena