Clinical Assessment of Immediate Autotransplantation of Mandibular Third Molars: An In Vivo Study

Introduction: Transplanting a tooth from one area of the mouth to another is known as autogenous tooth transplantation. It is a great choice for restoring young patients' teeth with developing alveolar bone because it uses the patient's own tooth as the replacement rather than a false one. This study aims to evaluate pain, infection, mobility, resorption, ankylosis, and success rate in the replacement of mandibular non-restorable molars through an immediate autotransplantation of the nonfunctional impacted mandibular third molar.

Materials and methods: In this in vivo study, 20 patients between the ages of 22 and 50 were selected. The cases in which the first or second mandibular molar was nonrestorable and had an impacted third molar for transplantation were selected. In all the cases, the nonrestorable molar was extracted and replaced with a nonfunctional, impacted third molar. All the cases were evaluated for pain, infection, mobility, ankylosis, and resorption at the postoperative second week, one month, third month, and six months. The pain was assessed on the visual analog scale (VAS), infection was assessed by the presence of purulent discharges, mobility was assessed on a clinical examination of tooth movements, ankylosis was seen radiographically as the obliteration of the periodontal ligament space, and the absence of the lamina dura and resorption were seen radiographically as radiolucency on the root surface. All the readings were tabulated and statistically analyzed.

Results: Pain was seen to be maximal at two weeks and minimum at six months. Infection was not seen at all time intervals. Mobility was reduced with time. There was no significant ankylosis or resorption. Out of the 20 cases, four patients required extractions due to resorption and grade 3 mobility. One patient showed ankylosis. The success rate of the autotransplantation was 75%. Fifteen patients showed well-defined lamina dura without ankylosis or resorption.

Conclusion: Autotransplantation is a valuable tooth replacement option and more economical, especially when provided with proper case selection.