Restorative treatment of diastema resulting from missing of maxillary lateral incisor: A case series

Congenital missing of maxillary lateral incisors comprises a high percentage of missing cases of the human teeth. If the remaining space of the missing lateral incisors large, fixed prostheses, implants or transplantation of premolars can be used. However, if the space is small and orthodontic treatment is not possible, the treatment will consist of reshaping the canine into a lateral incisor.
In this paper, a number of such cases will be explained.
If there is no space between the canine and lateral incisor, the treatment will consist of reshaping the canine crown to transform it into a lateral incisor. However, if there is a large gap between these two teeth, in addition to reshaping of canines, it might be necessary to add restorative materials to the proximal surfaces of the adjacent teeth to close the diastema. This therapy has some advantages such as ease, low cost, saving time, and the possibility of making modifications; however, the patients might be required to visit the dental office several times to modify the restoration.