Forced eruption: restoring nonrestorable teeth and preventing extraction site defects

Traumatic, pathologic, or iatrogenic destruction of the clinical crown often results in insufficient sound tooth structure for the placement of restorative margins that do not violate the biologic width. Three options are available for these situations: osseous crown lengthening, extraction with subsequent prosthetic replacement, or forced eruption of the involved tooth to expose sound tooth structure. The first two options have major disadvantages but are considered more frequently by dentists. Forced eruption overcomes the disadvantages of the other two options but receives less consideration than either. This article reviews the application of forced eruption as an alternative to surgical crown lengthening and reports the benefits of extrusion prior to extraction.