IADR Abstract Archives
Quantitative Characterizations of Periodontal Ligament Sharpey’s Fibers
Objectives: Periodontal ligament (PDL) Sharpey’s fibers play a pivotal role in connecting the PDL to alveolar bone and cementum to fulfill the PDL function. Surprisingly, there is little information in the literature on the PDL Sharpey’s fibers (especially the structural parameters), which significantly obstructs the development of periodontal regeneration. This work used rats as an example and provided the first comprehensive characterizations of the PDL Sharpey’s fibers, including the density, width, length, and insertion angles on both the alveolar bone and cementum sides.
Methods: The rat molar samples were embedded in paraffin, sectioned, stained with Sirius red, and observed under bright and polarized light. The measurements of Sharpey’s fibers (density, width, length and insertion angles) were conducted using Image Pro Plus 6.0 software. The number of images that were used for quantitative analyses included 11 for density, 121 for width, and 109 for length and insertion angles. After choosing the region of interest (ROI), the density and width of fibers were measured by the software, while the length and insertion angles were determined by the starting and ending points of the fibers. The results of the Sharpey’s fiber density, width, and length and insertion angle were analyzed by Student's t-test, Mann-Witney U test, and ANOVA, respectively.
Results: The average densities of the Sharpey’s fibers in the oblique group of all molars at the alveolar bone side and the cementum side were 8473±2461 fibers/mm2 and 9425±834 fibers/mm2, respectively. The median value of the width of the Sharpey’s fibers at both the bone and cementum sides were 3.9 μm, with the interquartile ranged from 2.7 to 6.3 μm. Meanwhile, the average length of the Sharpey’s fibers at the bone side (145.1±101.1 μm) was significantly higher than that at the cementum side (57.7±48.6 μm). In addition, the average insertion angles of the oblique fibers were 58.0±16.7° and 57.8±16.7° at the alveolar bone side and the cementum side, respectively.
Conclusions: The study fills the research gap of quantitative characterizations of the PDL Sharpey’s fibers, a significant step towards the development of bio-inspired matrix for periodontal regeneration.
Methods: The rat molar samples were embedded in paraffin, sectioned, stained with Sirius red, and observed under bright and polarized light. The measurements of Sharpey’s fibers (density, width, length and insertion angles) were conducted using Image Pro Plus 6.0 software. The number of images that were used for quantitative analyses included 11 for density, 121 for width, and 109 for length and insertion angles. After choosing the region of interest (ROI), the density and width of fibers were measured by the software, while the length and insertion angles were determined by the starting and ending points of the fibers. The results of the Sharpey’s fiber density, width, and length and insertion angle were analyzed by Student's t-test, Mann-Witney U test, and ANOVA, respectively.
Results: The average densities of the Sharpey’s fibers in the oblique group of all molars at the alveolar bone side and the cementum side were 8473±2461 fibers/mm2 and 9425±834 fibers/mm2, respectively. The median value of the width of the Sharpey’s fibers at both the bone and cementum sides were 3.9 μm, with the interquartile ranged from 2.7 to 6.3 μm. Meanwhile, the average length of the Sharpey’s fibers at the bone side (145.1±101.1 μm) was significantly higher than that at the cementum side (57.7±48.6 μm). In addition, the average insertion angles of the oblique fibers were 58.0±16.7° and 57.8±16.7° at the alveolar bone side and the cementum side, respectively.
Conclusions: The study fills the research gap of quantitative characterizations of the PDL Sharpey’s fibers, a significant step towards the development of bio-inspired matrix for periodontal regeneration.