Effect of ozone therapy on wound healing in the buccal mucosa of rats.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of ozone therapy on wound healing formed experimentally in the oral cavity of rats. DESIGN: Two surgical wounds were generated on the cheeks of 24 Wistar rats, bilaterally. Half of the animals were submitted to ozone therapy on both wounds (experimental group) and the other half received no treatment (control group). In the experimental group, wounds were exposed to ozone gas 1, 2 or 3 (60 µg/mL) times. Evaluation of wound healing of the buccal mucosa was followed for 1, 3 and 7 days. The distribution of neutrophils, fibroplasia and angiogenesis were analyzed. Samples were classified in a healing numerical scale according to the inflammatory intensity. Data were submitted to Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests (α = 0.05). RESULTS: On day 1, wounds were similar in both groups, lesions were open and bloody with slightly minor bleeding in the ozone therapy group. On day 3, the group with ozone therapy was almost all refurbished and with higher angiogenesis, while the control group still had more bloody points and lower blood vessels. On day 7, both wounds were remodeled, with higher fibroplasia in the group that received ozone therapy. CONCLUSION: It can be concluded that ozone therapy was effective in improving angiogenesis and fibroblasts count in the buccal mucosa of rats.

Bone healing after the inferior alveolar nerve lateralization: a histologic study in rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus).

PURPOSE: The purpose of this article is to evaluate the bone healing around 2 different dental implant surfaces after the lateralization surgery of the inferior alveolar nerve (IAN) during an 8-week healing period in rabbits, and to check if there is any interaction between the implants and the nerve. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The IAN lateralization was performed in an experimental rabbit model. Eight adult female rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) underwent the surgical procedure, and 1 implant was placed on each side of the mandible while the nerve was lateralized. On both sides, the nerve was repositioned directly in contact with the implant surface. With the intention of obtaining comparative results, smooth titanium implants were installed on the right side, and blasted Al2O3 ones were placed on the left. During the healing period, bone tracers were administered subcutaneously to check different periods of bone ingrowth. RESULTS: Histologic section, regardless of the studied surface, showed bone remodeling around the nerve, without contact between the nerve and the implanted surface. The bone blocks containing implants were histomorphometrically examined through computerized analysis, and the results obtained showed that the bone remodeling around the nerve occurred during the first weeks of healing. Through analysis of variance, the blasted Al2O3 implants showed at least 2.5-fold greater bone neoformation compared with the smooth titanium implants. CONCLUSIONS: Our results showed that there was no significant difference in the healing process concerning the nerve between the 2 studied surfaces. No interaction was detected between the nerve and the implants.