Orthodontic treatment for substitution of impacted mandibular second molars with their adjacent wisdom teeth

A distinctive method for extraction of the bilateral impacted mandibular second molars (MM2s) and moving the bilateral mesioangularly impacted mandibular third molars (MM3s) to the MM2 positions with appropriate occlusion by orthodontic uprighting and protraction was demonstrated in a 24-year-old woman and a 20-year-old woman, respectively. Although the surgical procedures should be performed under general anesthesia, rapid orthodontic treatment after tooth extraction aided in the initial teeth movement of the bilateral MM3s. The proposed treatment could be implemented and completed in 2 years or less. After undergoing the orthodontic treatment, the patient achieved robust bone support no matter with or without bone grafting. With this less technique-sensitive method, the patient still achieved improved posterior occlusion and masticatory function. Oral and maxillofacial surgeons should be consulted before this treatment option was adopted. (c) 2024 Association for Dental Sciences of the Republic of China. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons. org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).