The effect of progressive tooth mobility on destructive periodontitis in the dog

Abstract

Abstract. The aim of the present study was to assess the influence of traumatic forces causing a gradually increasing tooth mobility on an ongoing destructive periodontitis.The experiments were performed in five dogs fed a diet which permitted dental plaque accumulation. Periodontal breakdown was induced around the mandibular third and fourth premolars (4P, 3P and P3, P4) by the placement of plaque retention ligatures around the neck of the teeth. After 330 days, when approximally 50 % of the supporting tissues had been lost, mucoperiosteal flaps were raised around the four premolars and notches prepared in the buccal root surfaces at the marginal termination of the alveolar bone. The notches served as landmarks for measurements to be made in histological sections. The flaps were resutured and new plaque retention ligatures placed around the roots of all four teeth.One week later (Day 0), P3 and P4 (test teeth) were subjected to jiggling forces in a bucco‐lingual direction with the use of an elevator. The jiggling procedure which had a duration of 30 seconds, was repeated on Days 4, 8, 12 and 16, and was guided in such a way that the tooth mobility gradually increased during the experimental period. The animals were sacrificed on Day 26, and sections of 4P,3P and P3, P4 were prepared for light microscopic examination.The results of the study demonstrated that jiggling forces, resulting in a progressive increase of tooth mobility, mediated an enhanced rate of destruction of the supporting apparatus in dogs with an ongoing process of periodontal tissue breakdown.