[The direct transplantation of desmodont fibroblasts onto the necks of the teeth--a step in the expansion of the treatment potentials in orthodontics?].

The loss of periodontal support, especially of the periodontal ligament, presents the orthodontist with a constraining factor precisely in the treatment of patients who have reached adult and senior citizen age. Given this situation it was decided to take small biopsies of periodontal ligament cells, grow them, amplify them in vitro, and then with the help of different types of membranes, some of which consisted of resorbable materials, which served as cell carriers, transplant them onto tooth roots. The work reported here constitutes a starting point for research aimed at actively and directly re-populating tooth roots with periodontal ligament fibroblasts and thus, by improving the overall periodontal condition, widen the spectrum of treatment possibilities open to the orthodontist.