| Abstract: | The classic studies of the biology of tooth movement were observations of tissue responses as seen in clinical measurements and corroboration by histologic evidence. These useful studies show the result of a series of biological cell occurrences that turn biomechanical signals into chemical and electrical messages to which cells respond. When working in concert over time, teeth move, roots resorb, or occasionally ankylose. An understanding of how these complex events occur will lead to the clinician's ability to move teeth more efficiently or gain better retention through the modification of various host responses. This article discusses some of the biologic aspects of biomechanics that may lead to the application of molecular and cell biology currently so important in medical science, to the field of orthodontics. The next major change in the way that orthodontics will be practiced in the future is in the clinician's ability to change the host to respond to (1) the mechanical forces applied to teeth and their affect on the supporting bone or (2) the propensity for teeth in their new position to relapse. The means of doing so is through expanding the understanding of the basic biology of tooth movement. This knowledge base is at 2 distinct but related levels, the tissue biology and the cell biology of what science calls mechanical perturbation events. |
