Oral surgical management of cleidocranial dysostosis.

A patient with cleidocranial dysostosis is presented to further support the early active surgical management of the dental complications of this disease. There is good evidence to show that the permanent teeth have the ability to erupt once the deciduous dentition, supernumeraries, and overlying alveolar bone are removed. The aetiology of this failure of eruption is considered to be an abnormality in alveolar bone remodelling, compounded by overactivity of the dental lamina. The clinical experience gained from this patient substantiates this theory.