New esthetic dental material: “autologous tooth crown transplantation”. A clinical report

This article reports on the use of a natural tooth crown to repair substantial defects caused by caries. A 50 y old woman wished to have a mandibular left-side third molar extracted. Concurrently, the patient voiced concerns about the metal collar of a premolar. It was decided to extract the third molar and to use this tooth to perform an autologous tooth crown transplant at the upper second premolar. The left third molar of the lower jaw was extracted and stored in physiological saline. The tooth root was then cut at the cement-enamel junction, and the tooth crown width was adjusted by cutting to approximately-1 mm from the first premolar distal contact to the first molar tooth mesial contact. The inside of the crown was adjusted so that the abutment would fit inside the crown. An industrial resin impregnation technique was then applied. Composite resin was built up on the inner surface, margin, and the distal surface of the transplant crown, thus fabricating the transplant crown. The present case demonstrates that fabricating a transplant crown using a crown from an extracted tooth, and using composite resin and an industrial resin impregnation technique to transplant the crown, is feasible. At the six-month follow-up evaluation, the patient continued to exhibit a favorable outcome; nevertheless, further long-term follow-up evaluation is needed.