Clinical and histoenzymatic interrelations of the edentulous ridge's mucosa

The edentulous ridge's mucosa presents various histological aspects and different histoenzymatic equipment. These aspects are determined by constitutional factors (genetic, nutritional), as well as by age and by the associated pathology. The purpose of this paper is to evidentiate, through histochemical techniques, the aerobe (NADH2-cytochrome-c reductase) and anaerobe (lactatdehydrogenase) oxidoreducing enzymatic activities, as well as the hydrolytic enzyme's activity (ATP-ases, pH 9.4), corroborated with the histological aspects of the edentulous ridge's mucosa. The enzymatic activity and the morphological alterations present various aspects, depending on the metabolic type (aerobe oxidative, anaerobe oxidative, hydrolytic), according to the mucosal area (epithelium, chorion), to the different cell types, or even within the same cellular type (especially at the level of the connective lamina propria cells). They also vary from one edentulous patient to another, depending on the existence of a previous prosthetic treatment and on the type of this treatment. The local clinical examination, sustained by a histoenzymatic investigation, reveals the importance of the structural alterations and they can offer guidance for the proper prosthetic treatment and for the achievement of functional prosthetic restorations that provide the oral mucosa its necessary trophicity for as long as possible.