Pathophysiological and therapeutic aspects of dentoalveolar resorption.

Both physiological and pathological forms of bone and tooth resorption are seen in the dentoalveolar complex, and much of the non-restorative component of a clinician's work is occupied by problems related to loss of bone or dentine. Bone resorption is also a feature of many systemic diseases, some of which can affect the alveolar bone. The aim of this report is to summarize some recent work in which the dentoalveolar complex has been used as a model system to study physiological, pathological and therapeutic aspects of resorption of bone and dentine.