CONTENTS

Editor’s Choice

David L. Turpin, Editor-in-Chief

Long-term follow-up of severelyresorbed maxillary incisors afterresolution of an etiologicallyassociated impacted canineAdrian Becker and Stella Chaushu

Just when I thought I knew all about the problemsassociated with palatally impacted canines, alongcomes a technology that sheds new light on a familiarproblem—root resorption. Before computerized tomog-raphy, the incidence of root resorption of lateral inci-sors adjacent to palatally impacted canines was re-ported to be about 12%. This improved imagingcapability has shown that as many as 38% of the teethmight actually be affected. What does this mean for thepatient with an impacted maxillary canine?

This research team from Israel concluded that anumber of changes that might affect treatment deci-sions in everyday practice were in order. Early recog-nition of the aberrant eruption of maxillary canines ismore important that ever. The resorption process can berapid, so the patient should be treated with urgency.Surgical exposure and possible orthodontic traction ofthe ectopic tooth should be started before other proce-dures.

The good news is that, once the canine is movedaway from the adjacent root, the lateral incisor can bemoved fairly normally. At the 1-year posttreatmentfollow-up, even markedly resorbed teeth were notunduly mobile and might not require splinting. Theteeth were not discolored and had a fairly good long-term prognosis.

Facial attractiveness: A longitudinalstudyEgle Tatarunaite, Rebecca Playle, Kerry Hood, WilliamShaw, and Stephen Richmond

Facial attractiveness seems to be gaining impor-tance as television and advertising magnify the features

Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop 2005;127:9A-10A0889-5406/$30.00Copyright © 2005 by the American Association of Orthodontists.

doi:10.1016/j.ajodo.2005.04.020

orthodontists deal with daily. Many solutions touted inthe media are temporary at best, and one must questionthe long-term value for people seeking to enhance theirbeauty. But do we as health care providers haveanything better to offer? What is the long-term effect oforthodontic treatment on dental and overall facialattractiveness?

This longitudinal study began in Cardiff, Wales,with a sample of 1018 white, 11-year-old children in1981. Three-quarter facial photographs, smiling andnonsmiling, were taken then and again in 2001 whenthe subjects were 31 years old. Sixty subjects wereselected, representing a broad range of facial attractive-ness, and evaluated by 12 lay raters.

As expected, a smiling and youthful facial appear-ance made women more attractive to the raters. Gen-erally, a person’s facial attractiveness decreased overthe 20 years from age 11 to 31. Nevertheless, peopletended to retain their relative levels of facial attractive-ness. Orthodontic treatment improved the appearanceof the teeth but did not necessarily make a person lookmore attractive in the long term. However, the positiveeffect of orthodontic treatment could still be observed,especially in men who were rated less attractive inchildhood.

Dental implants for orthodonticanchorageLien-Hui Huang, Jeffrey Lynn Shotwell, and Hom-Lay Wang

Critical aspects in the use oforthodontic palatal implantsRichard Cousley

Skeletal Class III oligodontia patienttreated with titanium screw anchorageand orthognathic surgeryShingo Kuroda, Yasuyo Sugawara, Kazuo Yamashita,Takamitsu Mano, and Teruko Takano-Yamamoto

The diversity of interest in implants for anchorageis apparent in the number of related articles in this issue

of the Journal. In a Review Article, a group of

9A

American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial OrthopedicsJune 2005

10A Editor’s choice

periodontists at the University of Michigan look at themany uses of endosseous implants in the oral rehabil-itation of complex malocclusions. Osseointegration canprovide rigid orthodontic or orthopedic anchorage, andthis is especially critical when existing dental anchor-age is inadequate because of periodontal disease or theloss of posterior teeth. In Clinician’s Corner, Britishorthodontist Richard Cousley indicates that several

aspects of the palatal-implant protocol are technique-

sensitive and can affect the subsequent ease of handlingand the overall effectiveness of the implant. The CaseReport describes the correction of a Class III maloc-clusion complicated by oligodontia. Treatment in-cluded titanium screw implants for tooth movement, avertical ramus osteotomy, and a LeFort I osteotomy.This might be the first time this treatment approach hasbeen used successfully to correct an unusual dental/

skeletal problem. Please read on.