Abstract
Up to now, replantation and transplantation of teeth has been common treatments in oral surgery. Replantation of teeth is a fundamental method which oral surgeons should learn for the preservation of injured teeth. It is not rare that a lower unerupted third molar is transplanted to a socket of alower first molar which was extracted for dental caries in early age. In the oral surgery field, it has been believed that the average life of replanted teeth is 4 to 6 years and that it is a temporary treatment.
Recently, some investigators reported far better results of replantation and transplantation of teeth than that had been reported in the past. It has been revealed that the key points of this technique is to preserve periodontal membrane, and to perform adequate root canal treatment.
In this paper, the history of this technique, the biological principle to success, the enlarging indication of this technique, and the relation with dental implant are reviewed. In conclusion, this technique will become more important to dentistry and will have an important influence on the development of the dental implantology in the future.
