Submerging deciduous molars--an extraction in time!

A case is presented of a 25-year-old man with a submerged lower second deciduous molar and an impacted lower second premolar. Treatment was complicated by the relationship of the teeth to the inferior dental nerve, which necessitated extensive bone removal and mental nerve transposition to remove the submerged and impacted teeth. Early recognition and treatment of the submerging tooth might have prevented the need for such extensive surgery and morbidity at a later date.