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Use of a synthetic bone substitute to retard molariform tooth drift after maxillary tooth loss in ponies
Lieven E M Vlaminck1, Luc Huys, Dominiek Maes
1Department of Surgery and Anaesthesiology of Domestic Animals, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Belgium. lieven.vlaminck@UGent.be
Objective:
To evaluate the effect of alveolar bone substitute on post-extraction drift of maxillary cheek teeth in ponies.
Study Design:
In vivo longitudinal experimental study.
Animals:
Five ponies (5-7 years) with a healthy dentition.
Methods:
Both maxillary 4th premolar teeth (Triadan 08) were surgically removed. One alveolus was filled with a biocompatible non-resorbable bone substitute (Bioplant 24), whereas the other healed by second intention. A polyvinylsiloxane plug and spring wire isolated the bone substitute from the oral environment. Pathologic changes to dentition and adjacent soft tissue were recorded. Tooth drift was calculated after 1 and 2 years.
Results:
At 1 month, bone substitute material was incorporated into healthy tissue. Tooth drift was observed but differed significantly between control and treated sides at 2 years (P<.01). For both techniques, tooth drift differed significantly between years 1 and 2 (P<.001). Total drift in control arcades for year 1 was 10.69+/-2.12 mm and for year 2 was 9.08+/-0.87 mm, whereas for bone substitute arcades it was 9.90+/-1.60 mm for year 1 and 5.60+/-1.78 mm for year 2.
Conclusions:
Partial tooth replacement therapy after maxillary P4 extraction provided good healing in the immediate post-surgical phase. Alveolar filling with bone substitute material significantly slowed post-extraction tooth drift but did not stop it completely. Clinical Relevance- Important changes occur in equine dentition after maxillary cheek teeth removal. Further longer term observations are needed to fully validate study findings.
