• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.333-338
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• 2008

Supernumerary teeth are characterized by an excess number of teeth, which can be responsible for a variety of irregularities in the primary and transitional dentition. Supernumerary teeth, especially in the maxillary anterior region, may prevent the eruption of adjacent permanent teeth and cause their ectopic eruption, diastema, root resorption, or formation of dentigerous cyst. Therefore, early diagnosis of supernumerary teeth is important for prevention of such complications, and adequate treatment should be given according to their location, number, and morphologic features. In this case, four supernumerary teeth in the maxillary anterior region were disturbing the eruption of adjacent permanent incisors. Two of them were located in proximity to the central incisor tooth germs that their immediate removal may injure the permanent tooth germs. In order to minimize such complications, surgical extraction of the four supernumerary teeth was performed in two stages. At first, only two inverted conical supernumerary teeth were extracted. The other two tuberculous supernumerary teeth, close to the permanent tooth germs, were extracted later after their natural dislocation. In that way, we could minimize affects on the neighboring permanent tooth germs and also the amount of alveolar bone removed during surgery.