title: What Are the Histologic Effects of Surgical and Orthodontic Treatment on the Gingiva of Palatal Impacted Canines?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To histologically evaluate changes in the marginal gingiva of palatal impacted maxillary canines after surgical exposure and orthodontic treatment.
  
  
  METHODS
  A prospective case-and-control study was conducted of 10 patients presenting with bilateral palatal impaction of the maxillary canines. All patients underwent surgical exposure of the impacted canines with an open-window technique, which was followed by orthodontic treatment to achieve proper arch alignment. Once the treatment was finalized, 4 samples of marginal gingival tissue from each patient were taken for histologic study. The 4 samples consisted of 1 from each of the repositioned maxillary canines (case teeth) and 1 from each of their respective adjacent first premolars (control teeth).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Histologic examination of the case teeth tissue samples showed microscopic changes mainly in the nonkeratinized epithelium and connective tissue, whereas changes in the keratinized epithelium remained minimal. The control teeth showed a greater inflammatory reaction in the nonkeratinized epithelium.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Orthodontic treatment of impacted maxillary canines used in conjunction with an open-window surgical technique results in predictable orthodontic eruption with few periodontal discrepancies of the marginal gingiva compared with their adjacent first premolars.
authors.affiliation: Associate Professor, Department of Oral Surgery, University of Seville, Seville, Spain. Electronic address: danieltl@ono.com.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Torres-Lagares
authors.affiliation: Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Oral Maxillofacial Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
authors.forename: Pilar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hita-Iglesias
authors.affiliation: Student, Department of Oral Surgery, University of Seville, Seville, Spain.
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Azcárate-Velázquez
authors.affiliation: Student, Department of Oral Surgery, University of Seville, Seville, Spain.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Garrido-Serrano
authors.affiliation: Senior Clinical Oral Surgeon, Department of Oral Surgery, University of Seville, Seville, Spain.
authors.forename: Gonzalo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ruiz-de-León-Hernández
authors.affiliation: Master Professor, Department of Oral Surgery, University of Seville, Seville, Spain.
authors.forename: Rocío
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Velazquez-Cayón
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Oral Surgery, University of Seville, Seville, Spain.
authors.forename: José-Luis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Gutiérrez-Pérez
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D003481:Cuspid / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D004848:Epithelium / Q000473:pathology; D005881:Gingiva / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D009971:Orthodontics, Corrective / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D010159:Palate / Q000473:pathology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014095:Tooth, Impacted / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D055815:Young Adult