The effect of Emdogain gel on periodontal healing in replanted monkeys' teeth.

OBJECTIVE: We sought to histologically evaluate the effect of Emdogain gel on periodontal healing in monkeys' teeth undergoing delayed replantation. Study design Mature monkey teeth simulating avulsion were endodontically treated before extraction. Negative control teeth (group N = 10 roots) underwent immediate replantation, whereas the rest were bench-dried for 1 hour and treated in one of the following ways before replantation: the positive control teeth (group P = 12 roots) had no further treatment; group C teeth (4 roots) had the periodontal ligament removed; group D teeth (10 roots) were treated with Emdogain gel; group E teeth (6 roots) had the periodontal ligament removed before the application of Emdogain gel; and group F teeth (7 roots) had the periodontal ligament removed, the root surface conditioned, and Emdogain gel applied. Periodontal healing was evaluated after 16 weeks by undertaking histomorphometric analysis.

RESULTS: The Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests revealed that group N teeth had a statistically higher occurrence of complete healing than did all other groups, whereas group P was not significantly different in any of the healing categories from D, E, and F, the groups in which Emdogain gel was used. Group C teeth had a significantly higher occurrence of replacement root resorption than did the teeth in groups P and F-but were not significantly different from teeth in groups D and E.

CONCLUSION: Emdogain gel did not appear to significantly reduce replacement resorption in monkeys' teeth that had undergone delayed replantation.