Reattachment of a Fractured Anterior Tooth Segment With Pulp Exposure via Er:YAG and Nd:YAG Lasers

The reattachment of a dental fragment may be performed for treatment of traumatized anterior teeth, both in cases of simple coronal fracture (enamel and superficial dentin) and in those with complicated coronal fracture (deep dentin with pulp exposure). A major part of this procedure is the adhesion technique, which was described for the first time by Buonocore in 1955. This clinical case demonstrates the use of Er:YAG and Nd:YAG lasers in fragment reattachment of a traumatically fractured anterior tooth with pulp exposure, describes their advantages and highlights the steps involved in their use.

A 14-year-old patient who came to our clinic with a traumatic crown fracture of the permanent, right central incisor is described. The patient had preserved the fragment that had broken off into his mouth and it was rebonded to the tooth using lasers (LightWalker device; Fotona, Ljubljana, Slovenia) with the following parameters: Er:YAG, SSP mode; 200 mJ; 10 Hz; quasi-contact tipless handpiece; Nd:YAG, SP mode; 4 W; 40 Hz; 300 μm contact fiber. The whole procedure was performed without the need for anesthesia.

The patient reported that he did not feel pain or discomfort throughout the intervention. Follow-up visits performed after one, three, six, twelve, and sixteen months demonstrated vitality of the tooth the absence of complications, as well as good esthetic results. Laser technology may be used in the treatment of traumatic anterior teeth injury with advantages in terms of quality of the restoration, esthetic results, and patient comfort.