PROBING DEPTH AT IMPLANTS AND TEETH - AN EXPERIMENTAL-STUDY IN THE DOG

The aim of the present investigation was to assess the resistance offe red by the gingiva at teeth and the peri-implant mucosa at osseointegr ated titanium implants to mechanical probing. 5 beagle dogs were used in the experiment. The 2nd and 3rd premolars and the 1st molars of the right and left mandibular dentition were extracted. 2 titanium implan ts were installed in the edentulous right and left premolar- and molar -regions. Abutment connection was performed 3 months later. The remain ing premolar in the left jaw (P4) was exposed to ''experimental period ontitis'' during a 4-month period and, thus, the 4th premolar in the r ight jaw (4P) was representing healthy periodontium. The inflamed soft tissues at P4 were treated using a flap procedure. Following 2 weeks of healing, the main experiment was started, i.e., day 0. During the s ubsequent 360 days, the teeth and abutment parts of the implants were regularly exposed to plaque control (3 x/week). Radiographs Of 4P-, P4 - and the implant-regions were obtained on days 0 and 360. Mobility me asurements were performed on days 0 and 360. Biopsies of the experimen tal teeth and the implants were sampled at the end of the study. The r esults of the present experiment demonstrated that differences in term s of tissue composition, organization and attachment between the gingi va and the root surface on one hand and between the peri-implant mocus a and the implant surface on the other, make the conditions for probin g depth measurements at teeth and implants different. It was observed that the resistance offered by the gingiva to probing was greater than that offered by the peri-implant mucosa, and consequently the probe p enetration became more advanced at implants than at teeth.