Objective: Overeruption of posterior maxillary teeth into the opposing edentulous region is a frequent problem in restorative dentistry. Intrusion is mostly required prior to restoring the edentulous region. With the application of mini-implants as anchorage units, posterior intrusion can be accomplished with considerably minimum side effect. In this clinical report intrusion of the maxillary second premolar and first molar with mini-implant anchorage is presented.
Subject and Method: 47 year old female patient with Class I skeletal and dental relation showed overeruption of upper right second premolar and first molar due to the loss of opposing mandibular teeth. In order to gain sufficient vertical clearance for restoring the edentulous region, treatment objective involved 2.5 mm intrusion of the overerupted teeth. Second premolar and first molar were connected into a solid unit by segmental arch wires from vestibular and palatal sides. Mini-implants were placed between the roots of the first premolar - second premolar, first molar - second molar from the vestibular side and second premolar - first molar from the palatal side. A total of 1.5 N forces from the vestibular side and 0.75 N force from the palatal side were loaded for intrusion. In five months time 2.5 mm intrusion was accomplished.
Conclusion: By loading differential forces from vestibular and palatinal sides with reference to the anchorage distribution, tipping movements in vestibulopalatinal direction was prohibited. Sufficient vertical intrusion was obtained in 5 months time and restoration of the edentulous space was successfully accomplished.