Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 5, 2026
Measuring Maxillary Posterior Tooth Movement: A Model Assessment using Palatal and Dental Superimposition
Published on: February 23, 2024
Leveling and alignment of ectopically erupted maxillary canines with continuous archwires: Insights from geometric
Linda Schwarz1,2, Philipp Mitteröcker3, Michael H Bertl1
1Department of Orthodontics, Dental Clinic, Faculty of Medicine, Sigmund Freud Private University, Vienna, Austria.
Objective:
To evaluate the three-dimensional movements of ectopically erupted maxillary canines (EEMCs) during orthodontic leveling and alignment with continuous archwires.
Methods:
Eight patients with EEMCs were treated with a 0.014-inch CuNiTi archwire fully seated in self-ligating maxillary brackets. Seven intraoral scans were obtained per patient from baseline (T1) to 12 weeks thereafter (T2-T7). Geometric morphometric analysis incorporating principal component analysis (PCA) examined the (1) positional and angular changes of the EEMC and adjacent teeth and (2) alterations in the triangular relationship formed by the brackets of the lateral incisors, canines, and premolars.
Results:
The PCA revealed consistent EEMC extrusion, despite differences in the initial conditions, with the canines reaching apicocoronal alignment with the neighboring teeth after 12 weeks. All EEMCs showed uprighting. The triangular bracket configuration changed systematically, with the distance between the lateral incisor and premolar increasing as the canine was extruded.
Conclusions:
Despite the small sample size, this brief report revealed a consistent space-opening effect and EEMC uprighting during alignment.
