[Tooth transplantation: an extra dimension in orthodontics]

In the first part of the presentation, the content of orthodontics has been briefly explained by means of some clinical cases. The main part of the presentation consisted of discussing patient treatment by means of autogenous tooth transplantation with special emphasis on its indications and contra-indications. When a tooth transplantation is carried out properly, a success percentage of 90%, even forty years after treatment, can be expected. This high percentage has been reported in a recent study. The success of tooth transplantation is mainly due to the timing of the transplantation and the non-traumatic handling during surgery. According to the literature, the ideal moment for tooth transplantation is when half to three quarters of the root has been formed. One of the indications for tooth transplantation is the transplantation of a tooth in the cleft of a cleft palate patient. Two cleft palate patients have been presented in which tooth transplantation was carried out after bone grafting in the alveolar cleft. Finally some findings of a recent study, carried out at our department, dealing with cryopreservation of teeth before transplantation, has been presented. According to the findings of this study, cryopreservation, after removal of the pulp tissue does not inhibit the normal ingrowth of new pulp tissue after transplantation.