Inhibition of tooth eruption in the rat by a bisphosphonate

Studies of osteopetrotic rodents suggest that localized alveolar bone resorption must occur if the tooth is to erupt. To test this hypothesis directly, we injected postnatal rats with pamidronate, a bisphosphonate that reduces bone resorption by osteoclasts. The results of these experiments demonstrate that this bisphosphonate inhibits the time of tooth eruption of both rat molars and incisors. Pamidronate does not inhibit the gene expression of the putative tooth eruption molecules, colony-stimulating factor-1 and c-fos, both of which are expressed in the dental follicle, the tissue that is required for eruption to occur. Pamidronate does increase the size of the osteoclasts, including an increase in the number of nuclei, suggesting that the precursor mononuclear cells can still fuse to form osteoclasts despite the reduced ability of the osteoclasts to resorb bone. Thus, we report the discovery of an agent that inhibits tooth eruption and also show that tooth eruption requires alveolar bone resorption.