Use of nickel titanium closed-coil springs to align unerupted teeth: a case report

We describe a case in which a patient with a class II division I incisor relationship on a skeletal II base was transferred midway through a treatment that consisted of aligning the upper and lower arches with fixed appliance orthodontics in preparation for a mandibular advancement osteotomy. The lower second molars had previously been extracted; the lower third molars were left unerupted and some distance from the lower first molars. To provide a good occlusion at the end of treatment, it was decided to expose and approximate the lower third molars to the distal aspect of the lower first molars with the use of nickel titanium closed-coil springs; this was to be done before the osteotomy.