[Incisors with a mind of their own]

A 43-year-old man, known to have hypodontia, was bothered by his over-erupted central incisors. After the placement of implants and the accompanying crown- and bridgework, the central incisors appear to be increasingly over-erupted. The history shows that this phenomenon has already been seen in the past. Three mechanisms can be responsible for the over-eruption, specifically: continuous facial growth, over-eruption of both central incisors in the maxilla as a consequence of agenesis of opposing dentition and relapse of the orthodontic treatment as a result of the fact that orthodontic retention is not readily possible. After the central incisors were first cut in such a way that an acceptable incisal line has again been formed, the single-unit fixed dental prostheses on the front elements were replaced with porcelain ones.