Management and saving a traumatized poor prognosis maxillary central incisor for 18 years: A patient‐centered treatment

Abstract

Key clinical messageWith today's increasing desire to preserve natural teeth, managing teeth with a poor prognosis is a new challenge for clinicians. A dentist's attention to patient‐centered care is essential, which improves dental outcomes.AbstractNowadays, patients' interest in preserving their natural teeth has increased. In the patient‐centered care model, the clinician should consider the patient's preferences and values in the treatment plan. This strengthens the patient's responsibility toward his own body, resulting in more patient satisfaction and effective cooperation. Therefore, the skill of saving teeth with a poor prognosis, in which there was no other choice but to extract them, becomes essential in patients who want to preserve their natural teeth. This case report presents the successful 18‐year treatment and management of a maxillary central incisor of a 17‐year‐old male with a horizontal root fracture, who was incompletely treated in another medical center when the trauma occurred. The patient presented to us after 6 months. Due to the short length of the root, the patient underwent regenerative endodontic treatment first, but he did not attend follow‐ups. Finally, after 8 years, the patient returned with symptoms of infection and periapical radiolucency. The apical part of the root was resorbed during this time. Finally, it was decided to place an apical plug with MTA. MTA was extruded from the apical part of the root canal during the placement of the apical plug. In the 1‐, 2‐, 4‐, and 10‐year follow‐ups, the patient was completely asymptomatic, and the radiolucent periradicular lesion had healed. However, the extruded MTA was still present in the radiographic images without interfering with the healing process. Finally, the tooth has remained functional for 18 years.