Tooth autotransplantation (part 2): A case series

Tooth autotransplantation is an ancient yet little-known technique, despite its high success rate. The aim of this article is to present a series of clinical cases.

Patients were treated by the same oral surgeon, either solo or with four-handed dentistry, in collaboration with various orthodontists or dental surgeons in private practice or in hospital settings. Only photographs of cases with more than one year of follow-up are presented.

The complete series included 12 cases, 7 of which have a follow-up period exceeding one year. The patients were aged between 13 and 34 years. Most of the teeth involved were immature (4 out of 7 cases before Nolla stage 10). The length of follow-up varied, with some cases monitored for up to 3 and a half years. The main indication was replacement of a decayed tooth with a third molar. Three cases involved different situations: impossibility to perform traction as a first-line treatment (due to a severely dystopic tooth) or as a second-line option (due to ankylosis and resorption). One tooth was lost due to excessive milling of the neo-alveolus and active retention. The fallback solution in this case was implant placement. One tooth remained in slight infraocclusion.

Although the routine preservation of third molars should not be standard practice, the wide range of indications (caries, teeth refractory to traction, etc.) calls for a careful assessment of the pros and cons of extracting third molars and consideration of their usefulness, for example for autotransplantation.