title: Periosteal expansion of rabbit mandible with an osmotic self-inflatable expander.
abstract: We aimed to evaluate a new technique for intraoral expansion of soft tissue with a self-inflatable expander in rabbits. We placed a self-inflatable soft tissue expander bilaterally in eight rabbits under the periosteum of the mandible through an extraoral approach. The expander was left to self-inflate for two weeks, after which the animals were killed and specimens collected for histological examination. The self-inflatable soft tissue expanders expanded the periosteum. There were no dehiscences or infections. Histological observations showed no signs of any inflammatory reaction and there was no evidence of bony resorption. New bone had formed at the edges of the expanded periosteum. In the control area no new bone had formed. The osmotic soft tissue expander model for intraoral soft tissue and periosteal expansion suggests a promising way of creating a surplus of soft tissue that can be used to cover bone grafts.
authors.affiliation: Department of Maxillofacial Surgery, Maxillofacial Unit, Länssjukhuset, Halmstad, Sweden. peter.abrahamsson@lthalland.se
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Abrahamsson
authors.forename: Sten
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Isaksson
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gordh
authors.forename: Gunilla
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Andersson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D020136:Hydrogel, Polyethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate; D008297:Male; D008334:Mandible; D010012:Osteogenesis; D010521:Periosteum / Q000502:physiology / Q000601:surgery*; D011817:Rabbits; D012828:Silicones; D015626:Tissue Expansion; D015625:Tissue Expansion Devices
chemical_list: D012828:Silicones; D020136:Hydrogel, Polyethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate