Long-term periodontal status of labially erupted canines following orthodontic treatment

Periodontal status was studied at the mesiobuccal, midbuccal and distobuccal aspects of contralateral pairs of canines in 22 postorthodontic patients aged 30 to 51 years with a mean time of 26.4 years (SD, 5.6) out of active treatment. The pretreatment models showed one canine erupting severely to the labial ("ectopic") with a contralateral canine in good arch alignment (control). None of the patients experienced relapse of the "ectopic" canine in a labial direction, and none had missing teeth, malalignment, overhanging restorations or open tooth contacts adjacent to the canines evaluated. Periodontal parameters were examined using a Michigan #0 probe with Williams markings. A nonstandardized light force was used and the measurements were rounded to the nearest millimeter. The results demonstrated statistically significant differences between the canines in probing attachment and bone levels (mean, 0.75; SD, 0.92; P less than 0.01) and width of attached gingiva (mean, 0.50; SD, 1.07; p less than 0.05) at the midbuccal aspects. The reason for these differences could only be speculated upon.