Background: Approximately 50% of children under the age of 15 years are subjected to various kinds of injuries in the orofacial region. In the permanent dentition, the most severe dental injury affects the surrounding alveolar bone structure and leads to loss of the tooth. The current literature emphasizes that the awareness of appropriate triage procedures following dental trauma is unsatisfactory and that delay in treatment is the single most influential factor affecting prognosis.
Results: This case report presents the immediate self-replantation of a right lateral mandibular incisor of a 12-year-old male patient following a traumatic avulsion. The same patient had earlier, aged 10 years, experienced a trauma leading to the loss of all four maxillary incisors. The missing incisors were replaced by a removable acrylic denture. Having the requisite experience from the earlier accident, the child performed on himself an immediate replantation of the tooth at the site of the accident. After avulsion, the tooth was not splinted timely nor was an endodontic procedure carried out and no antibiotics were prescribed. The first dental examination after the trauma was performed 6 months later and since then, radiographic follow-up has been introduced. One year after the trauma, following the late endodontic treatment performed 6 months after reimplantation, the tooth is asymptomatic and stable.
Conclusions: Immediate self-replantation of an avulsed tooth is the best treatment choice, even without any other proceeding treatment. However, the healing process should be followed up to allow for the treatment of the early signs of pulpal necrosis and/or root resorption.
© 2010 John Wiley & Sons A/S.