BY DR.
SANIA RIAZ
BDS
Toothmobility is defined as “degree of
looseness of a
tooth due to lack of attachment and diminished
supportive apparatus.”
Mobility can be classified into two types
Physiological
Pathological
Itrefers to moderate force exerted on the
crown of a tooth, which is surrounded by a
healthy and intact periodontium.
Teeth have a slight degree of physiologic
mobility that varies for different teeth and
at different times of day (greatest in the
morning) .
Increases in the morning
Greater in children than in adults
Increases during pregnancy.
Tooth mobility occurs in two stages when
occlusion forces are applied:
Intrasocket stage: associated with
viscoelastic distortion of the ligament
Secondary stage: associated with
deformation of alveolar bone
When forces are discontinued, teeth return to
their original position in two stages:
Immediate springlike elastic recoil
Slow asymptomatic recovery movement.
When the mobility exceeds the limits of
normal mobility values, it is known as
pathological tooth mobility.
Bone loss
Trauma from occlusion leading to resorption
of the cortical bone and reduced support.
Unresolved inflammation
Pathological processes of the jaws.
Mobility is primarily in a horizontal direction
( faciolingually).
Miller’sclassification:
GRADE 1: slight movement (acceptable)
<1 mm (horizontal)
GRADE 2: moderately more than normal
>1 mm (horizontal)
GRADE 3: severe mobility in both lateral and
vertical displacement.
>1 mm (horizontal and vertical)
Mobility is graded clinically by holding the
tooth firmly between the handles of two
metallic instruments or with one metallic
instrument and one finger.
Scaling
The space that exists between the gums and
the tooth is probably populated with lots of
bacterial plaque, that being the reason why the
gums keep growing apart from the tooth. A
single cleaning session will remove all that
plaque, allowing the gums to adhere to the
tooth and the bone tissue to heal.
Regeneration technique
Splinting (incase of trauma)
Extraction