Local variations in turnover of periodontal collagen fibers in rats.

Background and Objective: The exact cause of orthodontic relapse is still unclear, although it is often suggested to be caused by periodontal collagen fibers. We hypothesize that long-lived collagen fibers in the periodontium cause relapse. The aim was to determine the half-life of periodontal collagen fibers around rat molars.
Material and Methods: Thirty weanling rats were repeatedly injected with (3) H-proline, and autoradiography of histological sections was performed at 1, 4, 8, 15, 22, 29, 36, 57, 78 and 113 d after labeling. Grain densities determined in specific areas of the periodontium were used to calculate collagen half-life.
Results: The half-life (t(½) ) was found to decrease from the supra-alveolar region to the apical periodontal ligament region. It was longer in the supra-alveolar region (1.39 ± 0.14 wk) compared with the deeper regions (p < 0.05). The t(½) of the upper periodontal ligament region (0.78 ± 0.20 wk) was longer than that of the inter-radicular periodontal ligament region (0.42 ± 0.07 wk, p < 0.05). The t(½) of the apical periodontal ligament region was 0.61 ± 0.15 wk.
Conclusion: The data indicate that long-lived collagen fibers do not exist in the soft tissues of the periodontium, and are probably not responsible for relapse. The differences in collagen half-life might be caused by local variations in compressive strain induced by normal function.
(© 2011 John Wiley & Sons A/S.)