Long-Term Study Backs Immature Donor Teeth for Autotransplantation

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Posted: July 13, 2026

Long-Term Study Backs Immature Donor Teeth for Autotransplantation

Edited by Dentaltown staff

Two companion retrospective cohort studies from the University of Bern have found that autotransplanted immature teeth achieve markedly higher long-term survival and success than mature donor teeth, while reporting that patients remain highly satisfied with the procedure years later. The papers were published July 7 and July 9, 2026, in Clinical Oral Investigations.

Part I followed 58 autotransplanted teeth—39 immature and 19 mature—in 50 patients treated between 2000 and 2022. Immature transplants showed 89.7% survival versus 73.7% for mature teeth treated with extraoral root-end resection, and success rates of 63.3% versus 31.3%. Mean follow-up ran 8.4 years for immature and 5.6 years for mature transplants.

Pulp revascularization occurred in 88.5% of immature transplants and 54.5% of the mature, root-end-resected teeth. The authors concluded that root-end resection can extend eligibility to mature donors and potentially avoid root canal treatment. Longer splinting and undamaged recipient sites were associated with better survival, and premolar and molar sites with higher success.

Radiographic assessment varied between raters. Oral surgeons and general practitioners disagreed most on pulp canal obliteration, with general practitioners reporting more pathological findings, prompting a call for standardized radiographic criteria and calibration over follow-up.

Part II examined patient- and clinician-reported outcomes for 33 patients with 37 transplanted teeth at a mean 8.5 years. Patient satisfaction exceeded 90% for oral hygiene access and for meeting expectations but was lowest for aesthetics, at 81%, and quality-of-life impact, at 60.5%. Clinicians rated several outcomes more critically than patients did, and infraposition was the only factor that lowered both patient and clinician assessments.

Part I was led by T. Zeller and colleagues and Part II by C. Raabe and colleagues, with senior authors including M.M. Bornstein, across the University of Bern’s School of Dental Medicine and the University of Basel. The authors cautioned that the results come from a single specialist center, involve small samples, and are retrospective, warranting confirmation in larger prospective studies.

Sources:
Clinical Oral Investigations, Long-term survival and success rates of immature versus root-end resected mature tooth autotransplants: part I, July 7, 2026 (PMID 42412227): link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00784-026-06990-w
Clinical Oral Investigations, Patient versus clinician-reported outcomes following tooth autotransplantation: part II, July 9, 2026 (PMID 42420678): link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00784-026-06989-3


Long-Term Study Backs Immature Donor Teeth for Autotransplantation

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