Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 12, 2026
Minced Tissue in Compressed Collagen: A Cell-containing Biotransplant for Single-staged Reconstructive Repair
Published on: February 24, 2016
Autotransplantation of Maxillary Third Molar with Its Attached Buccal Cortical Plate Combined with a Connective
Ramón Gómez Meda1, Francesc Abella Sans2, Jonathan Esquivel3
1Private practice, Ponferrada (León), Spain.
Introduction:
Tooth replacement often leads to insufficient vertical volume in the recipient socket bone. The aim of this novel report is to present a successful fully guided autotransplantation of a maxillary right third molar (tooth #1) with its attached buccal plate. The procedure was combined with a palatal connective tissue graft to reconstruct a buccal hard and soft tissue defect of an irreparable maxillary right first molar (tooth #3).
Methods:
A 45-year-old man complaining of pain in tooth #3 came to the clinic. Tooth #3 was non-restorable due to an extensive caries and a vertical root fracture of the mesiobuccal root, leading to a total loss of the buccal cortical plate. Guided autotransplantation of tooth #1 was completed by using 3-dimensional surgical templates for implant burs and a 3-dimensional-printed replica. After positioning the donor tooth, the cortical plate was fixed to the recipient socket with osteosynthesis screws. A connective tissue graft was also harvested to increase the band of keratinized gingiva and the thickness of the buccal soft tissue. At 6-month follow-up, the screws were removed, showing excellent regeneration throughout the buccal area.
Results:
At 3-year follow-up, the transplanted tooth was asymptomatic, with a natural bone level and no signs of replacement or inflammatory root resorption.
Conclusions:
The use of a donor tooth and its attached bone cortical plate combined simultaneously with a connective tissue graft appears to improve hard and soft tissues in a single procedure.
