Surgical repositioning of a severely impacted mandibular second molar

A 16-year-old girl was referred for surgical-orthodontic treatment with the chief complaint of an unerupted mandibular left second molar. With the exception of this molar, the patient had a fully erupted permanent dentition. A panoramic radiograph showed a horizontally impacted mandibular left second molar beneath a mesially impacted third molar. A surgical approach was used to upright and reposition the impacted second molar. When a molar is severely impacted, surgical uprighting may provide a viable option when other treatment modalities are contraindicated. This case shows an example of successful use of a surgical approach for uprighting and repositioning an impacted molar. The impacted molar was moved into its proper position with surgical exposure, after which it showed good stability. Keywords: impaction, mandibular second molar, molar repositioning