That’s what one dentist did today, according to the person who I spoke with (the proud patient). The dentist took out the tooth, did some work, and then stuffed it back in the hole.
Is this common?
Does this work?
Are there some fine details that I missed out on?
Success rate?
If so, what determines if the tooth can be reused?
Did he pull an actual live tooth out, or did he remove an implant, work on it, then screw it back in?
The cruel OP…I have an absseced tooth…same tooth third time. A root canal cannot save it…I need it pulled, but after that I am gonna put it under my pillow…
tsfr
<anecdotal evidence at it’s finest> I don’t have much to offer here but when I was a kid, we were told that if we lost a tooth we were to put the tooth in milk and go to the dentist immediately. The milk was supposed to “preserve” the tooth until it could be put back in.
Hey…just found a cite!
http://www.uihealthcare.com/topics/medicaldepartments/dentistry/savinglosttooth/index.html
Sure, it’s possible. Intentional Dental Reimplantation: A Case Report(pdf, but there are bloody socket pics 
) It’s rarely done but may be considered when root canal procedures would be complicated by anatomic structures or when previous surgery fails. Some have used it after traumatically induced root fractures. TREATMENT OF AN INTRA-ALVEOLAR ROOT FRACTURE BY EXTRA-ORAL BONDING WITH ADHESIVE RESIN (another pdf, not so much blood) Cites online for success rates of this procedure are hard to get as almost all the research is available on a pay subscription basis.
I have seen published success rates for traumatic avulsion (falls, punches) of 50-95%, depending on time to reimplantation, infection, contamination. What’s the time frame for measuring success - 1 year, 5 years, 10? Anectdotally - all 3 reimplantations at my old office have been retained for over 15 years. The teeth continue to be at risk for complications. One has progressive external root resorption and will eventually be lost.
Live tooth. The person was very pleased with this fact, keeping the original tooth and all, but slightly skeptical at the time about the procedure.