Journal of Dental Research, Vol 71, 398-402, Copyright © 1992 by International & American Associations for Dental Research Online Journals
A longitudinal radiographic study of the periosteal migration along the growing rabbit mandible
T. H. Frankenhuis-Van Den Heuvel, J. C. Maltha, A. M. Kuijpers-Jagtman and M. A. Van 't Hof
Department of Orthodontics, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
In the present study, the role of the periosteum in mandibular growth was
investigated. The orientation of the superficial bony spicules of rabbit
mandibles was determined on dry skulls after perfusion of the animals with
an India ink solution. The spicular orientation in the ramus area appeared
to be toward the condyle, rostrally toward the incisors, and caudally
toward the angular region. The behavior, during growth, of the periosteum
in the caudal mandibular half was studied by implantation of metal
periosteal and bone markers. A series of cephalograms revealed the
migration pattern of the periosteal markers, and by that the migration
pattern of the periosteum. It can be concluded that both the pattern of the
superficial bony spicules and the periosteal migration pattern suggest a
possible influence of the periosteum on mandibular growth.
