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Holm-Pedersen, P. and H. Löe. Wound healing in the gingiva of young and old individuals.
Scand. J. Dent. Res., 79: 40; 1971.
Study Aim
The purpose of this paper was to study wound healing in the gingivae of young and old human beings after
excision of a biopsy of standardized size.
Methods
18 young individuals (21-25 years old) and 12 old patients (65-81 years of age) participated in the study.
A biopsy 2mm wide was taken from healthy facial gingivae. Patients were instructed to clean the biopsy area
during the healing period. Sulcus depth measurements were taken preoperatively, and at 2, 4, 7, 10, 15, 20,
30, 40, 50, and 60 days after healing. In the old subjects, additional assessments were done at 70, 100, and
300 days. Healing was assessed by evaluation of photographs taken at different time intervals at the end of
the experiment. The level of the gingival margin evaluated by pre- and post-operative casts.
Results
The results showed that the biopsy areas were filled in for both groups at 2 days. Epitheliazation of the
area and disappearance of signs of inflammation took place at 4-10 days in the young group and between 7
and 15 days in the older group. It took 30-60 days for the area not to be distinguished from adjacent gingivae
in the young group as compared to 40-70 days in the older group.
- Young patients: slight recession of the tissue margin at day 4; at day 7 tissue started to grow in
a coronal direction and achived preoperative level at day 60.
- Old patients: recession was present at day 4 and continued through the following 2-3 days;
at day 10 gingiva started to migrate coronally but never reached the original level (except for case
noted at 300 days).
Gingival levels in the cast confirmed the clinical findings.
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