Description
Ectopic premolar
“An ectopic premolar can erupt palatally, lingually or buccally in the alveoloar ridge. Their eruption may be delayed or prevented due to the lack of space.”
– Proffit et al. 2013
Upper palatally ectopic premolar
Lower lingually ectopic premolars
Ectopic premolars occur mostly due to crowding or loss of arch space. Their presence can usually be detected radiographically. An ectopic premolar can be anticipated due to the loss of arch length because of factors like early loss of deciduous molars and drifting of the permanent molars.
An ectopic premolar can erupt (and present as a clear sign of crowding) or it may remain unerupted and impacted (in rarer cases). The management of ectopic premolars can be divided into interceptive treatment, comprehensive treatment and their extraction without further treatment. See treatment options for more details.
