The influence of primary occlusal trauma on the development of gingival recession

Abstract

This study aimed to histometrically evaluate the presence of gingival recession in the mesial surface of the teeth of rats experimentally subjected to primary occlusal trauma. This evaluation verified the distance from the cement-enamel junction (CEJ) to the free marginal gingiva (FMG) and to the height of the alveolar bone crest (CEJ-crest bone distance). There were 10 animals, randomly divided into 2 groups: occlusal trauma (OT) (n = 5) – creation of an occlusal interference by fixing an orthodontic wire segment on the mandibular first molar occlusal face, which was randomly chosen, and a Control Group (CG) (n = 5) – five animals with no exposure to the OT variable were euthanised after 14 days to obtain the initial parameters. The inter-group evaluation showed there was no significant difference between OT × CG when the CEJ-FGM distance (P = 0.192) was evaluated after 14 days, but there was a significant difference between the two groups as regards the CEJ-alveolar crest bone distance (P = 0.0142). Thus, it can be concluded that the OT induction model, after 14 days of experiment, promoted bone resorption. This was observed by the increase in the CEJ-alveolar crest bone distance. It also did not promote gingival recession, which was evaluated by the CEJ-FGM distance.