Indian Journal of Multidisciplinary Dentistry, Vol. 3, Issue 3, May-July 2013 741 Badruddin Ahmed Bazmi 1 , Anil Kumar Singh 2 , Sudipta Kar 1 , Hajara Mubtasum 3 REVIEW ARTICLE STORAGE MEDIA FOR AVULSED T OOTH – A REVIEW ABSTRACT Avulsion is a complex injury affecting the pulp, periodontal ligament and the alveolar bone. Avulsed permanent teeth can survive following replantation. Viable periodontal ligament (PL) cells are required for PL healing of avulsed teeth following replantation. If immediate replantation cannot be accomplished, the ability of PL progenitor cells to reproduce (clonogenic capacity) and recolonize the wound may be extended by prevention of desiccation and storage in physiological media. The present review discusses the various available storage media for avulsed teeth and their potential maintenance of the vitality of periodontal ligament cells. The choice of storage medium for preserving traumatically avulsed teeth is important for the success of future replantation. Key words: Cell storage, cell viability, periodontal ligament cells, tooth avulsion, tooth storage, tooth replantation. 1 Senior Lecturer, 2 PG Student Department of Pedodontics & Preventive Dentistry Guru Nanak Institute of Dental Science & Research 3 Clinical Tutor Department of Pedodontics & Preventive Dentistry S.B.Patil Institute of Dental Science & Research Corresponding Author: Dr. Badruddin Ahmed Bazmi E-Mail: badruddin_bazmi@rediffmail.com Introduction T rauma to the teeth can result in crown or root fractures, luxation injuries or avulsion. Avulsion is the complete exarticulation of tooth from the socket. It is a complex injury affecting the pulp, periodontal ligament and the alveolar bone. However, post-traumatic tooth avulsions constitute 0.5%–16% of all traumatic injuries of permanent anterior teeth. 1 Andreasen & Andreasen predicted that the incidence of these injuries may eventually surpass the incidence of dental caries. 2 Immediate replantation is the recommended treatment for an avulsed permanent tooth, to minimise the risk of post- replantation resorption of either an inflammatory or a replacement nature. 3 However, owing to the various associated factors such as the person’s conscious state, lack of first aid knowledge and informed consent issue at the scene of accident, it is not always feasible to replant the tooth immediately. 4 Thus, an extra-alveolar time interval prior to replantation always exists before the patient arrives at the dental office. This leads to desiccation of the root surface, increasing the risk of loss of vitality of the periodontal ligament (PDL) cell. 4 A variety of factors such as age of the individual, stage of root development, mechanical damage during trauma and replantation, treatment of the socket, type of splinting, mastication, endodontic treatment, antibiotics, time of replantation, extra oral dry time, macroscopic contamination, storage media and storage period are important and can influence the clinical success of replantation. 5,6 The ideal storage medium should be capable of preserving the feasibility of cellular periodontal ligament, so that the cells could go through mitosis and form clones of the damaged fibroblasts of the periodontal ligament and its generating cells. This is essential so that the nude