Autotransplantation: a lost art worthy of revival in the era of implants.

While synthetic implants represent a significant contribution to the advancement of dental medicine, they are associated with high costs, potential complications, and time delays. With autotransplantation, the patient is both donor and recipient of a living tooth; in the ideal case, this procedure transfers a healthy, nonfunctional tooth to a functional position. The aim of this article is to review the literature surrounding autotransplantation and present a successful case with the hope of increasing awareness of this approach to tooth replacement. A 20-year-old patient presented with a maxillary right second molar showing poor prognosis for restoration, and the patient's financial difficulties rendered extraction the only treatment option. The patient's fully soft tissue-impacted maxillary right third molar was atraumatically extracted and transplanted as a replacement for the second molar. The autotransplantation technique was enhanced via use of bone allograft to adapt the distal portion of the socket to the transplant, immediately reestablishing a healthy bony anatomy. In addition to reviewing the biologic basis, high success rate, and advantages of tooth autotransplantation, this article introduces a naming convention for transplanted teeth.