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Soft tissue volume augmentation by the use of collagen-based matrices in the dog mandible -- a histological analysis
Daniel S Thoma1, Christoph H F Hämmerle, David L Cochran
1Clinic of Fixed and Removable Prosthodontics and Dental Material Science, Center of Dental Medicine, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. daniel.thoma@zzm.uzh.ch
Objectives:
The aim was to test, whether or not soft tissue volume augmentation with a specifically designed collagen matrix (CM), leads to ridge width gain in chronic ridge defects similar to those obtained by an autogenous subepithelial connective tissue graft (SCTG).
Material And Methods:
In six dogs, soft tissue volume augmentation was performed by randomly allocating three treatment modalities to chronic ridge defects [CM, SCTG and sham-operated control (Control)]. Dogs were sacrificed at 28 (n = 3) and 84 days (n = 3). Descriptive histology and histomorphometric measurements were performed on non-decalcified sections.
Results:
SCTG and CM demonstrated favourable tissue integration, and subsequent re-modelling over 84 days. The overall mean amount of newly formed soft tissue (NMT) plus bone (NB) amounted to 3.8 ± 1.2 mm (Control), 6.4 ± 0.9 mm (CM) and 7.2 ± 1.2 mm (SCTG) at 28 days. At 84 days, the mean NMT plus NB reached 2.4 ± 0.9 mm (Control), 5.6 ± 1.5 mm (CM) and 6.0 ± 2.1 mm (SCTG). Statistically significant differences were observed between CM/SCTG and Control at both time-points (p < 0.05).
Conclusion:
Within the limits of this animal model, the CM performed similar to the SCTG, based on histomorphometric outcomes combining NB and NMT.
