Twelve-year follow-up of an autogenous mandibular canine transplant

Transplantation is the transfer of tissue or an organ from 1 site to another in the same person or between different persons. A transplantation in which donor and recipient are the same individual has been termed autogenous transplantation, autoplastic transplantation, or autotransplantation. The purpose of this report was to describe a patient undergoing autotransplantation of an impacted mandibular canine to its normal position in the mandible and the 12-year follow-up. Five years after the surgical procedure, the patient presented with pulp canal obliteration in the autotransplanted tooth. Twelve years after the autotransplantation, the tooth position was stable despite pulp canal obliteration, but with no sign of inflammatory resorption or a periapical lesion. In addition, there was no sign of replacement resorption (ankylosis). The endodontic literature has shown that the prognosis of patients undergoing autotransplantation may be good under specific considerations. Therefore, the technique may be a treatment plan option for the replacement of missing teeth.