Experimental periodontal breakdown in the dog.

This paper describes a method for inducing rapidly progressing and reproducible periodontal lesions around selected teeth in dogs. The experiments were performed on 10 beagles which were fed a diet favoring gross formation of plaque. Approximately 1 mm of the marginal alveolar bone aroumd 4P and P4 was removed and a notch prepared in the root. A ligature of cotton floss was placed around 4P and P4 at the cemento-enamel junction. Radiographs and sections prepared 230 d later revealed that a progressive breakdown of the periodontal tissues had occurred. The average bone loss was 2.4 mm and the distance between the apical cells of the pocket epithelium and the notch was 854 mum.