Author(s)

Kei Ogawa, Yuri Kiguchi, Seiko Yamamoto-Nemoto, Norimitsu Hirai, Kanako Sawamoto, Takehiko Shimizu

Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Nihon University School of Dentistry at Matsudo, Chiba, Japan.

The effects of childhood masticatory function loss and soft foods on the mandibular condyle have been the subject of much research. However, the corresponding bone turnover is not fully understood. The purpose of the present study was to clarify the effects of a lack of teeth and a soft food diet during the growth period on bone turnover in the mandibular condyle. We divided 3-week-old Wistar rats into the following three groups: 1) Extraction group: The maxillary molars were extracted at the age of 4 weeks, and animals were fed powdered standard feed. 2) Powder group: Animals were fed powdered standard feed without tooth extraction. 3) Control group: Animals were fed solid standard feed without tooth extraction. Non-decalcified thin-slice specimens of sagittal sections of the mandibular condyle were obtained at the age of 20 weeks for histological analysis. We used micro-CT analysis and bone histomorphometry to measure bone volume (BV), bone mineral content (BMC), bone mineral density (BMD), bone microstructure, bone resorption, and osteogenesis in the mandibular condyle, and we compared the results among groups. In the extraction and the powder groups, we found deformation and disruption of the arrangement of chondrocytes, coagulation of chondrocytes, and duplication of the tidemark in the cartilage. We also found an increase in multinuclear osteoclasts in the cancellous bone. We found a reduction in BV, BMC, and BMD in the extraction and powder groups compared to the control group, as well as a reduction of bone volume, a lowering of osteogenesis parameters, and an increase in bone resorption parameters in the secondary cancellous bone. These results suggest that a lack of teeth and a soft food diet during the growth period cause a decline in bone microstructure, a decrease in osteogenesis, and an increase in bone resorption.

Rat, Mandibular Condyle, Powder Diet, Extraction of Molars, Bone Histomorphometry

Ogawa, K. , Kiguchi, Y. , Yamamoto-Nemoto, S. , Hirai, N. , Sawamoto, K. and Shimizu, T. (2016) Loss of Masticatory Function Affects Growth and Development of the Mandibular Condyle in Rats. Open Journal of Stomatology, 6, 261-273. doi: 10.4236/ojst.2016.612032.