SOME HISTORICAL MUSINGS ON TOOTH/ROOT RESORPTION

Contemporarily, the ravages of tooth resorption areseen daily around the world. While some teeth can beretained many are lost to this process. Although many typesof resorptive processes have been identified, the etiologicalfactors involved in this malady are not often clear andboth speculation as to it source and clinical managementhave received a great deal of empirical explanations anddirectives, respectively. However, this was not always thecase, as the nature of tooth resorption, as is known today,was not really addressed in a significant manner until themid-1970s. In fact, when first identified as a problem inthe early 1800s, the term resorption did not even exist andthe process was poorly understood. This historical reviewof tooth resorption will trace the evolution of some of ourideas about this malady, identifying both the concepts andpersonalities involved in this evolution.