Transplanting Molars by Dr. Judy McIntyre

For patients in whom a tooth is congenitally missing or lost to caries or trauma and when an appropriate donor tooth is available to fill the space, autotransplantation can be a predictable procedure that has been employed worldwide for more than 50 years with great success. Autotransplantation relocates one’s own tooth from its original position to another site. This recipient tooth site could have a tooth treatment-planned for extraction or may be a recent extraction site, or could be an edentulous site, or the site of a congenitally missing tooth.

This article discusses the advantages and disadvantages of autotransplantation (AT); its treatment planning; a detailed sequence of the clinical procedure; and the criteria for the procedure’s success both pre- and postoperatively. With this information, clinicians should be able to add a successful treatment option for unrestorable or missing teeth, particularly in growing (pediatric and adolescent) patients who do not yet have the option for implant placement.

Upon completion of this course, you should be able to:
– Appropriately identify and treatment-plan potential autotransplantation cases.
– Successfully sequence and perform autotransplantations with predictable success.
– Educate other dental care providers and patients about this alternative treatment option.
– Add a successful treatment option for unrestorable or missing teeth, particularly in patients who do not have the option for implant placement.