Reattachment of the Periodontium After Tooth Movement into an Osseous Defect in a Monkey. Part I.

This article discusses a study which examined the effects of orthodontic movement of teeth into artificially produced infrabony lesions. The study used two female rhesus monkeys with adult dentitions as subjects in this study. Clinical signs of marginal gingivitis were observed in the animals during the first week of the experiment. Orthodontic bands were fitted on the maxillary first molars and canines of the animals after forty-two weeks. Histological analyses showed that there were great numbers of fibroblasts in the periodontal ligament spaces. It also found that the periodontal ligament fibers are under compression and that there is a loss of fiber orientation. Evidence of cementogenesis was also observed on the tension sides of the cemental surface.