Some historical musings on tooth/root resorption.

Contemporarily, the ravages of tooth resorption are seen daily around the world. While some teeth can be retained many are lost to this process. Although many types of resorptive processes have been identified, the etiological factors involved in this malady are not often clear and both speculation as to it source and clinical management have received a great deal of empirical explanations and directives, respectively. However, this was not always the case, as the nature of tooth resorption, as is known today, was not really addressed in a significant manner until the mid-1970s. In fact, when first identified as a problem in the early 1800s, the term resorption did not even exist and the process was poorly understood. This historical review of tooth resorption will trace the evolution of some of our ideas about this malady, identifying both the concepts and personalities involved in this evolution.