Overcome Ankylosis Uncertainty with New Dr. Kinzer E-Book

A new e-book by Dr. Gregg Kinzer explains the multiple different factors that restorative dentists and dental practice teams should consider in helping patients with ankylosed teeth.

In “Ankylosis," an e-book compilation of five of his Spear Digest articles, Dr. Kinzer provides lessons on etiology, decoronation, and autotransplantation, in addition to treatment planning for adults and children.

Prior to planning treatment, whether the ankylosed tooth is deciduous or permanent, the “time or the patient's age at the onset and at the diagnosis of ankyloses, the location of the affected tooth, and the smile line must all be evaluated,” Dr. Kinzer explains in the e-book.

“The treatment decision on whether to keep the ankylosed tooth – and possibly restore it – or remove it, will depend on the esthetic impact of any hard or soft tissue defect and the rate at which the resorption is occurring,” he says. “If you think about it, an ankylosed tooth is not that dissimilar from an osseointegrated implant.”

In the e-book, Dr. Kinzer also explains a decoronation technique modified to include hollowing out the internal of the root in addition to cutting off the coronal portion below the osseous crest.

“The benefit of this is that the resorption will occur at a more rapid rate as it will be occurring from the internal as well as the external aspect of the root,” says Dr. Kinzer, D.D.S., M.S.D., who is a member of Spear Resident Faculty and manages a private practice in the Seattle area.