Saving the Natural Tooth with Intentional Reimplantation

Intentional reimplantation is the intentional removal (extraction) and reimplantation of a tooth. This technique can be useful for teeth that cannot be treated with traditional endodontic surgery. This strategy can be particularly helpful in lower second molars where proximity to the mandibular nerve and thickness of the buccal bone make endodontic surgery difficult.


This patient presented for treatment of tooth #18. It had previous endodontic treatment 15 years earlier. The patient presented with some intraoral swelling and intermittent pain that was worsened with pressure and biting. Class II mobility and deep buccal probing were found along with the obvious periapical radiolucency and apical resorption. The tooth was diagnosed as: Prior RCT with chronic apical abscess. The large access cavity weakening the mesial tooth surface was noted and discussed as well as the possibility of a root fracture.

Treatment options discussed included:
1. Retreatment and look for fracture
2. Apicoectomy and look for fracture
3. Intentional reimplantation and look for fracture
4. Extraction

Due to the conical root structure, closeness to the mandibular canal, and probable root fracture, we decided to perform and intentional reimplantation.
Tooth was removed atraumatically and no root fractures were found.

Immediate root resection, retropreparation and retrofill with MTA was performed.
Patient was given PenVK 500mg for 5 days.
Patient was informed of the guarded prognosis following this procedure. Long term follow up will be required to determine the success.

6 year recall of the patient finds the tooth completely functional and asymptomatic. While there are many who would not have considered saving this tooth, the intentional reimplantation procedure has saved this patient thousands of dollars and allowed him to retain his natural tooth.