Pulpal regeneration following allogenic tooth transplantation into mouse maxilla

Autogenic tooth transplantation is now a common procedure in dentistry for replacing a missing tooth. However, there are many difficulties in clinical application of allogenic tooth transplantation because of immunological rejection. This study aims to clarify pulpal regeneration following allogenic tooth transplantation into the mouse maxilla by immunohistochemistry for 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU) and nestin, and by the histochemistry for tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP). The upper right first molar (M1) of 2-week-old mice was extracted and allografted in the original socket in both the littermate and non-littermate after the extraction of M1. Tooth transplantation weakened the nestin-positive reactions in the pulp tissue that had shown immunoreactivity for nestin before operation. On postoperative Days 5-7, tertiary dentin formation commenced next to the preexisting dentin where nestin-positive odontoblast-like cells were arranged in all cases of the littermate group until Day 14, except for one case showing immunological rejection in the pulp chamber. In the non-littermate group, bone-like tissue formation occurred in the pulp chamber in addition to tertiary dentin formation until Day 14. The rate of tertiary dentin was 38%, and the rate of the mixed form of dentin and bone-like tissue formation was 23% (the remainder was immunological rejection). Interestingly, the periodontal tissue recovered even in the case of immunological rejection in which the pulp chamber was replaced by sparse connective tissue. These results suggest that the selection of littermate or non-littermate is decisive for the survival of odontoblast-lineage cells and that the immunological rejection does not influence the periodontal regeneration.