Commentary: A Translational Medicine Approach to Tooth Transplantation

The autogenous tooth transplantation approach to replace missing teeth has been in use for a long time. Different surgical techniques have been developed to improve prognosis and longevity of transplanted teeth with complete root formation. Many factors reportedly affected short- and long-term success of the procedure: complications such as ankylosis and root resorption up to the tooth exfoliation have occurred frequently. Several studies have appeared on this issue over the years. However, outcomes of transplantations have not yet been conclusively determined as no randomized clinical trials have been published on this issue, and their effectiveness has been evaluated only in observational studies. On the other hand, interesting information from specific experimental studies on the healing pattern of the interface between the root surface and alveolar bone in the replantation/transplantation model, and from non-related studies dealing with mechanically induced periodontal trauma, has been available and potentially useful since the 1970s to 1980s. However, this information has not been incorporated into clinical literature regarding tooth autotransplantation. This commentary aims to show how information from related and unrelated experimental models was translated to a clinical setting and led to a novel approach, successfully applied, in the autotransplantation of a multirooted tooth with completed root formation.