Alveolar Bone Loss: A Shorter-Time Study Model in Mice

Abstract

Mucoperiosteal flap surgery (MPS) of the mouth is conducted in several clinical situations. However, MPS  triggers a resorption process that leads to alveolar bone ridge loss. Rodents are routinely used in studies  evaluating alveolar bone loss (ABL), and the experimental time involved in these experiments is usually 21  days. This study aims at establishing whether the alveolar bone resorption area differs between 10 and 21  days after MPS in mice mandibles. MPS was performed in the vestibular aspect of the left mandible (LM)  of 20 male CF1 mice Mus domesticus. The right mandible (RM) was used as control. Animals formed identical  groups for each experimental time. Animals were euthanized 10 days (ten days group, TG) or 21 days  (twenty one days group, TWG) after the surgical procedure. All mandibles were hemisectioned, cleaned and  stained for stereomicroscopic inspection. Digital images were obtained and the alveolar bone loss area measured  (mm2) using image analysis software. The results demonstrate that a significant loss is observed in the  left mandible (LM) (Student’s t test, p<0.01), as compared to the RM, in both groups. No statistically significant  difference was observed in the ABL area (p>0.05) between TWG and TG. This investigation leads  to the conclusion that it is possible to reduce experimental times when using the MPS model in mice.