Localized idiopathic apical root resorption: a report of five cases with emphasis on differential diagnosis

Seeking to describe the clinical and radiologic features of localized idiopathic apical root resorption (LIAR), the authors conducted a dental literature review of idiopathic external root resorption and performed a retrospective study of LIAR among the identified cases retrieved from a private general practice. Cases involved five patients--one female and four males--ranging in age from 15 to 48 years. The authors concluded that LIAR appears to be a distinct but uncommon clinicopathologic condition that is self-limiting, and therefore warrants no definitive treatment. However, the condition, which can present asymptomatically on routine radiographs or is sometimes associated with clinical symptoms, warrants differentiation from periapical replacement resorption as a result of orthodontics or trauma.