Surgical treatment of ankylosed and infrapositioned reimplanted incisors in adolescents

A method for preserving the alveolar ridge of ankylosed and infrapositioned incisors and improving conditions for a subsequent prosthetic therapy is described and evaluated clinically and radiographically. The method involves removal of the crown and root filling from the root, which is retained and covered with a mucoperiosteal flap. Clinically, there were no postoperative complications and after the follow-up a satisfactory prosthetic restoration was performed in all cases, regardless of the degree of infraposition before treatment. Radiographically, no pathologic changes were observed apart from a continuous resorption and replacement of lost root substance by bone. Alveolar bone level shifted only slightly between postoperative and 12-month follow-up radiographs, in a majority of cases in a coronal direction.