Regeneration of the alveolar bone after autotransplantation of teeth in children

Abstract

Autotransplantation of immature teeth proved to be a successful treatment to replace lost or congenitally missing teeth. Only few papers reported the status of the alveolar bone after autotransplantation, despite the common belief that bone forms around transplanted teeth. This paper describes the treatment of two young patients, who underwent autotransplantation of an immature premolar and a third molar to the recipient sites where extensive atrophy of the alveolar bone was diagnosed before the surgery. In the later patient complication of healing after the first surgery and the second transplantation of developing molar is described. Four and eight years after the surgeries, transplanted teeth were healthy, and the normal shape of the alveolus was detected at the sites of transplantation. A cone beam computed tomography confirmed the presence of a new alveolar bone at the roots of autotransplanted teeth. This finding highlights the potential of transplanted developing teeth to maintain or regenerate the alveolar bone after the surgery. In both cases replacement of missing teeth was possible before cessation of growth of the jaws due to regenerative potential of transplanted teeth, their eruption and assisted orthodontic treatment.