Two groups of patients were studied in the retrospective project. Fifty-six mandibular first or first and second molars were treated by hemi section and crowns. In a second group, molars were extracted and first or first and second molars were replaced with implants. All patients were observed for at least four years.
Sixty-eight percent of the hemi-sected teeth and eighty-nine percent of the implant group remained free of complications. The hemi-sected group had a higher incidence of unsalvageable complications (Gregory-George Z et al. Mandibular molar root resection versus implant therapy: a retrospective nonrandomized study. J Oral Implantol 2009; 35(2):52-62)
By Gordon J. Christensen, DDS, MSD, PhD
