| Abstract: | The object of the present investigation was to see if the bone around the inferior dental nerve remodelled during mandibular growth and development. The investigation was carried out by injecting 27 albino Lewis rats with three fluorescent bone seeking dyes--oxytetracycline HCl (OTC), alizarin red S (ARS), and 2,4 bis-N,N'-di' (carbomethyl-aminomethyl)] fluorescein (DCAF)--and then studying the bone around the inferior dental foramen. The mandibles of the animals were studied both macroscopically and microscopically under ultraviolet light to investigate the growth processes occurring and to see if the inferior dental foramen was relocated during growth. A quantitative analysis utilizing two specimens was also carried out for the same purpose. The results of both the qualitative and the quantitative analyses showed that the bone around the inferior dental nerve remodeled during mandibular growth. The mandible grew in an upward and backward direction, and the inferior dental foramen was correspondingly relocated in an upward and backward direction to maintain exactly the same position relative to the condyle and the posterior border of the ramus. This study, then, supports Moss's concept of the "unloaded" nerve, and is in keeping with his view of mandibular growth based on the functional matrix theory. |
