Alveolar bone turnover and tooth movement in male rats after removal of orthodontic appliances.

The purpose of this study was to acquire tooth movement, histomorphometric and biochemical data on oral tissues that had previously been loaded with calibrated orthodontic forces. One hundred and forty-four male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into two groups: Group I, orthodontic appliances placed for 16 days to mesially move maxillary first molars with an initial force of 40 gm, and group II, sham orthodontic treatment. Seven to twelve rats were killed at each of six times after removal of appliance. Tooth movement was measured cephalometrically, alveolar bone turnover by histomorphometry, and tissue phosphatase levels biochemically. Treated molars moved distally more rapidly than the shams (13.9 vs 5.0 microns/day). The appliance removal group had a persistent 10-fold elevation in root resorption on the mesial (p < 0.0001), as well as early elevations in osteoclasts on the mesial and osteoblasts on the distal (p < 0.001) that returned to control by 3 to 5 days. Acid, alkaline phosphatase, and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) remained elevated in the tissues until 10 days (p < 0.0001). Changes in the dynamic measures of bone formation were characterized by low rates at days 1 and 3 (p < 0.01), elevating thereafter on the mesial and the converse on the distal. Orthodontic tooth movement relapses, and bone remodeling continues for several days after removal of appliance consistent with the direction of loading, orthodontic treatment stimulates root resorption at sites that were loaded in pressure without detectable recovery, and root resorption does not increase at the tension sites.