RESUMO
AIM: To evaluate the hard and soft tissues healing around teeth prepared with the biologically oriented preparation technique (BOPT) versus the chamfer technique versus non-prepared teeth. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-two teeth in eight beagle dogs were randomly prepared with the BOPT (test = 16) or chamfer (control = 16) techniques and covered with polymethylmethacrylate crowns as provisional restorations. Sixteen negative controls (non-prepared teeth) were also used for comparison. Histological description and histomorphometrical measurements of the periodontal tissues were collected at 4 and 12 weeks in 7 out of 8 dogs, including the soft tissue height and thickness, and the horizontal and vertical bone dimensions. RESULTS: When compared with negative controls, test and control preparation techniques exhibited a more apical location of the free gingival margin with respect to the cement-enamel junction (∆ = 1.1 mm for both groups at 4 weeks (p < .05), 0.99 mm for the test group (p = .043) and 0.20 mm for control group (p = 1.000) at 12 weeks). There were no significant differences between test and control groups with respect to vertical and horizontal histometric measurements. CONCLUSIONS: The BOPT and chamfer tooth preparation protocols induced similar qualitative and quantitative changes in the healing of the supra-crestal soft tissue complex, when compared with non-prepared teeth. Despite the limited amount of power, it appeared that differences between the tested preparation techniques were not statistically significant.