[Connective tissue attachment to root surfaces in periodontal disease. Initial attachment of human gingival...

We studied the effect of periodontal treatment (scaling, SC; root planning, RP; scaling followed by citric acid, SC + CA; and root planing followed by citric acid, RP + CA) of periodontally diseased root surfaces on the initial attachment of human gingival fibroblasts in vitro. Root slices were prepared from surgically extracted human normal and periodontally involved teeth. Each treated root slice was placed in a well of a 24-well plate containing a PBS-antibiotic solution (penicillin, 200 units/ml; streptomycin, 200 micrograms/ml) for 1 hr. at 4 degrees C. Then, to each well was added 1 x 10(4) cells in 1 ml of alpha-MEM, and the plates were incubated for 24 hr. After the root slices were fixed and stained, the morphological changes and the numbers of attached cells were determined under a dissecting microscope. The fibroblasts on the controls (untreated normal roots) and the RP-roots appeared spindle-shaped with a few cell processes. The cells on the SC-roots were rounded or slightly elongated. The cells on the roots treated with citric acid (SC + CA and RP + CA) had were flat and seemed well attached to the surface. The number of cells attached on RP- and RP + CA-roots was increased to the control level, but those on SC- and SC + CA-roots were showed about 60% of the control. No significant differences in the numbers of cells were found between RP and RP + CA treatment or between SC and SC + CA treatment.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)