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Updated: May 12, 2026
The Establishment of a Murine Maxillary Orthodontic Model
Published on: October 27, 2023
[Effect of experimental occlusal hypofunction on the three-dimensional microarchitecture of mandibular bone in rats]
Guo-feng Zhou1, Li-xin Xiang, Hong Li
1Department of Stomatology, Zhejiang Hospital, Hangzhou, China.
Objective:
To investigate the effects of experimental occlusal hypofunction on the architecture of rat's mandibular bone.
Methods:
Forty Sprague-Dawley (SD) male rats were randomly divided into experimental occlusal hypofunction group and control group, with 20 rats in each group. Experimental occlusal hypofunction group rats were fitted with a metal cap to the maxillary and mandibular incisor, to eliminate the occlusal forces on rat molars. In control group, a metal ring was fitted to the maxillary and mandibular incisor to maintain molar occlusal contact. Then the rats were killed under deep anaesthesia at 0 week and at the end of 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks, and the mandibles were immediately removed for measurement of the three-dimensional architecture of cancellous bone in the alveolar process with micro-CT.
Results:
At the end of week 4, the bone volume/total volume (BV/TV) in the hypofunction group decreased compared with the control group [control group:(0.65 ± 0.05)%, experimental group: (0.60 ± 0.05)%, P < 0.05] and lasted until the end of the experiment [control group: (0.72 ± 0.06)%, experimental group: (0.51 ± 0.07)%, P < 0.01]. The similar result was also observed in trabecula thickness (Tb. Th) in experimental animals [control group: (168 ± 15), (170 ± 25), (180 ± 18) µm, experimental group: (152 ± 20), (145 ± 19), (142 ± 15) µm, P < 0.05]. The trabecula spacing (Tb. Sp) in the hypofunction group increased from the end of week 4 to the end of week 8 compared with the matched control groups [control group: (264 ± 21), (284 ± 17), (282 ± 26) µm, experimental group: (306 ± 30), (316 ± 18), (332 ± 18) µm, P < 0.05]. The trabecula number (Tb.N) of experimental animals decreased from the end of week 6[control group:(3.59 ± 0.22) mm(-1), experimental group: (3.03 ± 0.31) mm(-1), P < 0.05] to the end of week 8[control group: (3.66 ± 0.24) mm(-1), experimental group: (2.85 ± 0.18) mm(-1), P < 0.01].
Conclusions:
Experimental occlusal hypofunction can result in the change of mandibular alveolar process three-dimensional architecture.
