Exposure of impacted teeth is sometimes needed to assist an Orthodontist who is correcting dental crowding. The most common tooth that is impacted (apart from the third molar teeth), is a maxillary canine tooth.
In order to move these teeth into the correct position in the oral cavity, it is often necessary for a surgical procedure to be performed. This usually involves removal of a small amount of overlying tissue to expose the crown of the impacted tooth, and then an orthodontic bracket with a chain attached is glued to the surface of the impacted tooth.
Your Orthodontist is then able to exert gentle force on the impacted tooth via the chain allowing movement of the impacted tooth into its correct position in the oral cavity.