Abstract:

Objective:The purpose of this study was to study the changes in the inferior alveolar vessels and angiogenesis following mandibular lengthening with different rates of distraction.Methods:Bilateral mandibular corticotomieswere performed in 6 goats. The mandibles in 6 goats were legnthened 10.0 mm using a custom-made distractorwith different rates of distraction (1.0 mm/d [n=3] and 2.0 mm/d [n=3]); the other2 nondistracted mandibles served as control. The goatswith distracted mandibleswere killed at2 weeks after completion of distraction. The inferior alveolar vesselswith distracted calluseswere harvested and processed for histologic and morphometric evaluation.Results:No pathological changes in the inferior alveolar vessels were found following mandibular osteodistraction. However, the number of microvessels within distraction gap in the animals distracted at a rate of 1.0 mm/day was greater than that in the goats distracted using a rate of 2.0 mm/day, and more mature newly formed bone trabeculae was observed.Conclusion:There were no significant changes in the inferior alveolar vessels aftermandibular lengthening with dis- traction osteogenesis, but rapid distraction may have adverse effects on the aniogenesis in the distraction gap.

Key words: distractionosteogenesis, inferioralveolarvessel, angiogenesis