The treatment of choice for
tooth avulsion is
replantation. The ideal
replantation should be realized as quickly as possible, or at least, the
avulsed tooth should be kept in an adequate
solution to preserve the periodontal ligament attached to the root. If that is not possible, treatment of the radicular surface should be done in order to prevent radicular resorption. The purpose of this study was to test
sodium alendronate as a substance for topical treatment of the radicular surface of avulsed teeth in an attempt to prevent the occurrence of dental resorptions. Fifty-four rat maxillary right central incisors were extracted and replanted. Group I--extra-alveolar dry period of 15 min, intracanal dressing with
calcium hydroxide (
CALEN, S.S. White, Artigos Dentários LTDA, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and
replantation; Groups II and III - extra-alveolar dry periods of 30 and 60 min, respectively, immersion in 1%
sodium hypochlorite for 30 min for removal of the periodontal ligament, washing in
saline solution for 5 min, and treatment of the radicular surface with 3.2 mg/l
sodium alendronate solution for 10 min. Intracanal dressing with
calcium hydroxide and
replantation followed. At 15, 60, and 90 days post-
reimplantation, the animals were killed and the samples obtained and processed for microscopic analysis. The results indicated that
sodium alendronate was able to reduce the incidence of radicular resorption, but not of
dental ankylosis. No significant differences were observed regarding variations in the extra-alveolar periods among the groups.