Orthodontic management of mandibular canine-incisor transposition

This article presents five cases of an unusual dental anomaly--transposition of mandibular canine and lateral incisor. While every one of the presented cases had its individual characteristics, there are certain common traits. For instance, deciduous canines are usually retained, and the anomaly is found concurrent with other dental problems, such as congenital absence of teeth or peg-shaped lateral incisors. Many transposition cases also have a severe arch length discrepancy, which in itself may be an etiologic factor. In two of our cases orthodontic management included extraction of the transposed lateral incisor, whereas in the remaining three cases teeth were left in their transposed positions. On the basis of the longitudinal records of one of our cases, we speculate that there are early signs of transposition in the making, signs which should be recognized and which could possibly make transposition preventable.