Alveolar bone changes in autogenous tooth transplantation.

Objective: To assess the alveolar bone formation after autogenous tooth transplantation by conventional radiographic method and digital subtraction radiography.

Study Design: This retrospective study was done in 54 of 136 patients who received the third molar tooth transplantation and attended the first week, as well as the 1-, 3-, 6-, 9-, and 12-month follow-up. Postoperative periapical radiographs were subsequently evaluated by direct visual interpretation and digital subtraction radiography. The data were analyzed by using McNemar test and 1-way repeated-measure analysis of variance as well as Bonferroni multiple comparison.

Results: Fifty-four cases of transplantation were studied. Most of them had normal wound healing. The direct radiographic interpretation and digital subtraction radiography found significant alveolar bone formation in the first-and the third-month follow-ups (P < .05). Lamina dura appeared in the third month and kept increasing until the sixth month.

Conclusions: Postoperative radiographs revealed the distinctive bone formation up to the third month. The clinical and radiographic assessment found that the third molar transplants could bear a normal chewing load within 3 months.