Influence of trauma from occlusion on progression of experimental periodontitis in the beagle dog

Abstract

Abstract The experiments were performed in six beagle dogs fed a soft diet which allowed dental plaque formation. During a pre‐experimental period of 7 weeks, periodontitis was induced by (1) surgically creating a bony pocket and (2) adapting a copper band to the exposed tooth surface. Two dogs were sacrificed at the end of this period and tissue sections were prepared for histological examination. In the remaining four dogs, trauma from occlusion was produced on the left mandibular fourth premolar by the installation of a cap splint and a bar device. The contralateral premolar served as a control. At the start of, and at regular intervals during, an experimental period of 180 days, tooth mobility, gingival inflammation and plaque accumulation were assessed. After sacrifice, radiographs were taken of test and control tooth regions and histological sections analysed regarding the width of the marginal periodontal ligament space and the degree of apical downgrowth of the gingival pocket epithelium. Only the test teeth showed a gradually increasing horizontal mobility, but gingival inflammation and Plaque Index scores were similar on test and control sides. Radiographs revealed (1) horizontal bone loss in both test and control areas, and (2) angular bone destruction only in test areas. Histological sections showed that the degree of apical proliferation of the pocket epithelium was more pronounced in test than in control regions.