Abstract
The term“submerged tooth”may be defined as a tooth which is located below the normal plane of occlusion due to various causes reason. In the primary dentition, the posterior teeth, especially the mandibular primary molar, are most often observed to be submerged. The present case report, however, describes the submerged mandibular right primary canine.
A Japanese girl,2 years and 4 months old, was brought to The Dental Clinic of Aichi-Gakuin University for the purpose of caries control. At the first visit the child was caries-free, and her Hellman's dental age was IC. She was healthy and of normal development, and the dental and medical history of her family was not remarkable. No traumatic injury of the teeth and no other dental anormalies were detected. The case was observed for 4 years, and then the submerged tooth was extracted because it was felt that it might influence the normal arrangement dentition.
Clinical and histological findings were as follows:
1. The height of the clinical tooth crown had decreased year by year.
2. The midline was off to the right.
3. The permanent successor was found to be normal.
4. The root of the submerged tooth was shorter than that of the normal one, and the surface of the root was rough.
5. Histologically, Tomes fiber in the dentin was found to be abnormal in many places.
