Impact of infected and noninfected human dentine debris on bone healing in rats

Aim To evaluate in vivo the bone tissue response of rats to varying amounts of infected and noninfected dentine debris. Methodology Bone tissue reactions were evaluated histologically in 42 Wistar rats after 7, 30 and 60 days. For each animal, three surgical cavities were prepared on the femur and filled with varying amounts (5, 10 or 20 mg) of infected or noninfected dentine debris pellets. In the negative control group, the surgical cavities were not filled. At the end of each experimental period, the animals were euthanized. The samples were processed histologically and analysed using a light microscope. The presence and the severity of inflammatory reaction, as well as hard tissue deposition were evaluated. Data were subjected to statistical analysis and the effects of the dependent variables calculated using nonparametric tests Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney U with due Bonferroni corrections at P = 0.05. Results At 7 days, the presence of infected debris significantly increased the histopathological scores for neutrophils (P