Evaluation of bone height and bone density after tooth extraction: an experimental study in minipigs

ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to radiographically quantify bone density and bone height preservation in tooth extraction alveolus filled with xenograft.Study designThe maxillary and mandibular fourth deciduous molars and fourth premolars of 6 minipigs were removed. Randomly, in 3 animals the right side was used as the test side and in the other 3 animals the left side was the test side. Intraoral radiographs were performed to compare the condition at the initial time and 3 months later. Measurements of bone height and bone density were performed using KS300 (Zeiss) software.ResultsAfter 3 months, there was a statistically significant smaller bone height loss for the test group. The test group presented a statistically greater bone density immediately after tooth extraction. However, after 3 months there was no statistically significant difference between the groups.ConclusionsThe results suggest that treatment of postextraction alveolus with xenograft can preserve bone height initially but differences in bone density compared to when no xenograft is used are not sustained.