Tweed---Judiciously

timed removal of teeth can thus enable desirable eruption and alignment of the
permanent dentition, possibly avoiding or minimizing the need for future ortho- dontic treatment.

Orthodontists traditionaly believed in the immediate placement of orthodontic appliances

following premolar extractions to minimize adverse mesial drift of the posterior teeth. As expected,
relatively greater mesial molar movements are associated with second premolar extraction than first
premolar extraction.

Most orthodontists accept that mandibular plane angle will decrease with extraction
therapy,25 resulting in a deepening of the bite. The effect is usually explained by mesial
movement of the molars into the extraction sites, which allows the mandibular plane to rotate
anteriorly. With the exception of an openbite malocclusion, this is usually an undesirable
sequela. This study showed no decrease of the mandibular plane angle, which might be
partially attributed to the minimal absolute movements of the molars into the extraction site.
Any mesial movement which did occur was accompanied by vertical eruption of the molar to
prevent angular change in the mandibular plane. Nevertheless, greater mandibular plane
rotation may occur when appliance therapy immediately follows extraction to close the
extraction spaces.

article--Physiologic drift of the dentition-“driftodontics” -following extraction of four first

premolars can produce desirable changes. The extraction sites will begin to close and incisor
crowding spontaneously corrects itself. Late extraction produces changes that are mainly due to
distal movements of the mandibular canines and incisors; the mandibular molars remain relatively
more stable. Rates of incisal change for the early extraction group are more limited; molar changes
are similar to those seen with late extraction. Future studies are clearly required using a more
homogeneous sample to analyze the temporal variation in rates of change and to evaluate the
influence of maxillary arch changes during the period of drift.

All teeth except the ectopic canines were bonded. The incisors were aligned with segmental
mechanics on .014" and .016" nickel titanium arch- wires, and the canines were allowed to drift into

the extraction spaces without any direct force ap- plication. After five months of treatment, the
canines had erupted into position, and a continuous .016" nickel titanium archwire was placed.
Leveling was completed using .016" × .022" nickel titanium and .016" × .022" and .017" × .025"
stainless steel arch- wires. Space closure was accomplished with slid- ing mechanics on .019" × .025"
stainless steel archwires. Finishing, detailing, and settling were carried out using .014" stainless steel
archwires and red elastics (3⁄16", 3.5oz).**

After conventional orthodontic treatment, ectopically erupted canines tend to dis- play increased
plaque and gingival bleeding indi- ces, greater pocket depths, reduced attached gin- gival width,
higher gingival levels, increased crown lengths, higher electric pulp test scores, and reduced bone
levels.6 The two cases presented here showed no gingival recession, no increase in pock- et depth, and
a normal thickness of attached gin- givae after physiological drifting of the ectopic teeth. Well-aligned
arches with proper overjet and overbite were achieved without any damage to the canines.
In the lower jaw, no effort was made for the teeth to move into the extraction spaces for 11 months. Almost all
the extraction spaces in the mandible were closed by the spontaneous move- ment of canines, premolars, and
molars referred as driftodontics. The braces were then bonded to correct the rotations and in- clinations of the
lower teeth and achieve appropriate interdig- itation with the upper teeth. It is beneficial for the patients to have
braces for a shorter period. This yielded in the ease of oral hygiene and prevented the side effects of orthodontic
forces ex- erted on the teeth.

A Class II patient with four premolar extractions can be treated without soft tissue retrusion. The skeletal
pattern, final position of the incisors, amount of crowding and soft tissue character- istics are important factors
in the decision of extractions. The physiological drift of the teeth after extractions referred as drift- odontics is
beneficial for the patient in terms of oral hygiene and prevention of the side effects of orthodontic treatment.