Successful replantation and splinting of a maxillary segment fracture in the primary dentition.

T he literature has few articles on primary anterior teeth replantation and splinting. Reports in the literature on avulsion and replantation primarily address the permanent dentition, perhaps because most complete avulsions occur between the ages of 7 and 11 yearso1 Recently a case was reported on the avulsion and successful replantation of two primary mandibular incisors in a 2-year-old patient. 2 A splint was not placed nor was root canal therapy performed because of the promptness of the replantation. After two years, the teeth showed no signs of pulpal necrosis and were stable. Generalizations concerning the success of replantation of primary teeth met with some resistance in follow-up letters. 3, 4 One noted that the article had no photographs or radiographs to demonstrate the success of the case. 3 Another letter pointed out that the case report should not imply a new standard of care for replanting primary anterior teeth, because it happened to meet all the ideal criteria for the replantation of primary anterior teeth (i.e., less than 30 min out of the alveolus, a suitable transport medium, a "clean" injury, and a child less than 2 years of age). 4