Continued eruption of maxillary incisors and first molars in girls from 9 to 25 years, studied by the implant method.

The aim of this study was to describe the average and individual patterns of continued eruption of the maxillary incisors and first molars in a longitudinal sample of girls. The sample comprised 14 series of lateral cephalometric films of girls, obtained from the archives of the implant study of Björk (1968). All subjects had bilateral posterior maxillary implants and one or two anterior maxillary implants. Subjects with craniofacial anomalies were excluded. The sample represented various types of malocclusions, but records during periods of orthodontic treatment were excluded from the calculation of average data and average curves. The final sample comprised 147 radiographs in the age range 9-25 years. Data were debugged by comprehensive numerical and graphical procedures. The average cumulative continued eruption from 9-25 years of age was 6 mm downwards and 2.5 mm forwards for the upper incisors, and 8 mm downwards and 3 mm forwards for the upper first molars. This resulted in an average reduction of the occlusal plane inclination (OLs/IPLs) of 4.5 degrees from 9-16 years. Attention is drawn to the fact that due to the continued eruption of the natural teeth, the use of osseointegrated implants with artificial teeth should not be recommended in childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood, unless special provision is made for later revision or replacement of the artificial teeth to compensate for the lack of continued eruption of such implants.