Influence of occlusal hypofunction on the elastic property and bone formation of rat alveolar bone

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of occlusal hypofunction on the maintenance of the elastic property and alveolar bone formation using an occlusal hypofunction model. Analyses of the elastic property and bone formation of the alveolar bone were carried out by the compression test and the bone histomorphometry in the two directions (the tooth axis direction and the bucco-lingual direction). The compression test was done with the texturometer to analyse the springiness of bone specimens of the mandibular first molar. Bone histomorphometric analyses were evaluated using double labeled frontal section. Results showed that occlusal hypofunction significantly reduced the springiness and suppressed the alveolar bone formation in the bucco-lingual direction. These results suggested that occlusal function plays an important role in maintenance of the elastic property and bone formation of the alveolar bone.