Treatment outcome of 42 replanted permanent incisors with a median follow-up of 2.8 years.

Aim: To evaluate the treatment outcome of avulsed and replanted permanent incisors.

Material and methods: 42 avulsed and replanted permanent incisors in 37 individuals were followed over a median observation period of 2.8 years (range: one year to five years). The mean age was 16.3 years at the time of replantation, with 81% of patients being younger than 20 years.

Results: The tooth survival rate after replantation was 83.3% (35/42 teeth). Periodontal healing was observed in 20 teeth. External root resorption was the most frequent complication and was found in 22 of the 42 avulsed teeth: 21 teeth had replacement resorption. Of these 21 teeth, 14 teeth were still in situ at time of recall examination, seven teeth had to be extracted during the follow-up period due to progressive replacement resorption. One tooth had surface resorption. In contrast, infection-related resorption could not be observed in this sample. With regard to periodontal healing, no differences were found between teeth with short (less than 14 days) versus prolonged duration of splinting. Higher incidence of replacement resorption correlated with the extended duration of non-physiologic extraoral storage.

Conclusion: Use of a strict endodontic treatment protocol after replantation minimized the risk of infection-related root resorption. The occurrence of replacement resorption was mainly influenced by the duration of the non-physiologic extraoral storage time and storage medium.