CLINICAL AND HISTOLOGICAL-EVALUATION OF LIGATURE-INDUCED PERIODONTITIS IN THE DOMESTIC FERRET

The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical and histological ch aracteristics of ligature induced periodontitis in 12 domestic ferrets . On day 0, silk ligatures were placed at the gingival margin level of selected experimental teeth. The contralateral teeth served as contro l teeth. On day 14, 4 animals and on day 28, 8 animals were sacrificed . Clinical measurements including gingival index (GI), probing pocket depth (PPD) and probing attachment level (PAL) were taken in 5 animals on days 0, 14 and 28. Histological sections were prepared for light m icroscopy. The histometric measurements performed were (1) the distanc e between the cemento-enamel junction (CEJ) and the alveolar bone cres t and (2) the distance between CEJ and connective tissue attachment le vel. The number of sections with root resorption areas was also observ ed. Cell counts were taken in 4 different areas. Clinical results show ed, on days 14 and 28, a significant increase of the mean values of PP D and PAL at the experimental teeth when compared to the control teeth . The histometric results showed a significant loss of connective tiss ue attachment and bone loss in the experimental teeth on day 14. On da y 28, the results were similar, although more sections with root resor ption areas were observed in the experimental teeth. The predominant i nflammatory cell in all the 4 experimental areas analyzed was polymorp honuclears (PMN), and they were mainly increased in areas closely rela ted to the junctional epithelium. The results indicate that the domest ic ferret may be used as an experimental animal in the ligature-induce d periodontitis model.