Calcified Bodies in Human Gingival Tissue of Periodontal Disease

Calcified bodies in gingival tissues taken from patients by gingivectomy in the treatment of peri-odontal disease were examined by means of light microscopy, transmission and analytical electron microscopy. The material consisted of 100 gin-gival tissues from patients of both sexes whose age ranged between twelve and seventy-one years. In addition, 23 gingival tissues that had no prominent inflammation were used as control. Specimens for light microscopy were fixed in a mixture of 4% paraformaldehyde and 0.5% glutaraldehyde solu-tion and embedded undecalcified in JB-4. The blocks were cut at 5μm and stained with hematox-ylin and eosin, toluidine blue, PAS, and Von Kossa stains. Samples for electron microscopy were immediately fixed in 2.5% glutaraldehyde, postfix-ed in 1% osmium tetroxide, dehydrated and embed-ded in Epon. Undecalcified ultrathin sections were stained and examined with a electron microscope. Whereas no calcified bodies could not be found in the control gingiva, calcified bodies of different structures were frequently found in the gingiva biopsies from patients. Among 100 specimens, 64 had some kind of calcified bodies. The calcified bodies were of different character and origin. They were tooth fragments, bone fragments, cementicles, phleboliths, calcified connective tissue, and calcified bacterial aggregations. The results of our study demonstrated that some calcified bodies might develop in the gingiva as a result of chronically inflammation and others might be transplanted into the gingiva following treatments of periodontal disease such as scaling, root planing, and surgical flap procedures. The presence of numerous cal-cified bodies within the gingiva of the previous the treatment of priodontal desease should emphasize the need for careful surgical procedures.