Dentistry and Dental Medicine

Purpose: Ankylotic root resorption is a serious complication following traumatic dental injuries. Th e etiology of root resorption

includes acute injury to the cementum and periodontal ligament, and subsequent biological processes that propagate the harm.

Th e aim of the present paper is to present a structured treatment protocol for teeth that have experienced trauma and

are at risk of developing ankylotic root resorption, followed by a decoronation protocol for situations in which ankylotic

root resorption developed.

Materials & Methods: Th is protocol provides a structured road map from the primary dental trauma, through the initial

development of ankylosis detected radiographically, until the clinical manifestation that results in signifi cant infra-occlusion.

Th e current protocol integrates best available evidence from the literature and from published guidelines.

Results: Ample contradictory data, which mainly consists of case reports related to the treatment of ankylotic root resorption,

is available in the current literature. Th ere is no accepted protocol or uniform guidelines for treatment in these cases and many

clinicians prefer avoiding replantation of an avulsed tooth that seems to have guarded long-term prognosis, or performing

decoronation when infra-occlusion developed. As a result, young patients lose the benefi ts associated with replantation and

decoronation procedures.

Conclusions: Th e option of re-implantation of the avulsed teeth should be considered irrespective of the negative long-term

prognosis. Following ankylosis development, the goal of submerging the tooth root (decoronation) is to maintain the horizontal

dimension of the alveolar ridge and also to gain vertical dimension, allowing implant placement in the future