Background: Estrogen withdrawal causes marked bone loss in the appendicular skeleton but slightly affects mandibular cancellous bone; in contrast, little is known of its effects on alveolar wall turnover associated with tooth drift. In this study, we assessed short-term changes in alveolar wall turnover after an ovariectomy and compared it to other bone sites exhibiting different levels of turnover.
Methods: Forty Sprague-Dawley rats were ovariectomized or sham operated. Right mandibles and femurs were processed without demineralization for bone histomorphometry in three different sites: the alveolar wall around the first molar buccal root, apical interradicular bone, and femoral metaphysis. Bone changes were assessed 14 and 28 days after the ovariectomy. Data were compared using non-parametric statistics.
Results: At 14 days, on the resorption side of the alveolar wall, resorption parameters were higher in the ovariectomized rats (P <0.01), whereas the formation was lower (P <0.05); on the formation side, the daily mineral apposition rate increased (P <0.01). The root resorption was higher in ovariectomized rats (P <0.05). In the periodontal ligament, the numbers of osteoclast precursors were significantly higher. At 28 days, the drift slowed down in both the sham and ovariectomized groups. The ovariectomy had no effect on interradicular bone turnover, whereas bone loss and numbers of osteoclasts were strongly increased in the femur as soon as 14 days after the ovariectomy.
Conclusions: Estrogen withdrawal had transient repercussions on alveolar wall turnover. The different reactivities of the three envelopes studied suggest that a response to an ovariectomy in the short term is related to initial basal turnover.