TISSUE CHARACTERISTICS OF ROOT RESORPTION AREAS IN TRANSPLANTED MAXILLARY CANINES

The aim of the present study was to describe some histopathologic feat ures of tissues collected from root resorption areas of maxillary cani nes after transalveolar transplantation surgery. In 8 of 101 transplan ted canines, complications including cervical root resorption occurred between 6 and 11 yews after treatment. The resorptive processes were located at the supra-alveolar portions of the distal and/or mesial asp ects of the teeth and were scheduled for treatment involving surgical exploration. The resorption cavities, which extended from the cementoe namel junction to a position immediately below the bone crest, were fi lled with a granulation tissue. In four of the diagnosed complication cases, this granulation tissue was carefully excised concomitant with the adjacent gingival tissue after flap elevation and placed in a buff ered fixative. After proper soft-tissue healing, the cavities were fil led with a glass-ionomer material. The collected biopsy specimens were , after fixation and, iii one case, decalcification in ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid, dehydrated and embedded in Epon. Sections 3 mu m thi ck were produced, stained in periodic acid-Schiff and toluidine blue, and used for histometric and morphometric analyses. The histologic ana lysis showed that the dissected tissue harbored well-encapsulated area s of inflammatory infiltrates. The lesions comprised a relatively low volume of collagen and a large number of inflammatory cells, predomina ntly lymphocytes.