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C.2. Changes in the Attachment Apparatus during Tooth Movement

Figure 1: Skeletonized preparation of the un-opposed mouse molar model. Note that the upper right molars have been extracted, allowing for lower jaw molars to super-erupt.

Figure 2: Skeletonized mouse mandible following exposure to an un-opposed situation for 12 days. Note the significant super-eruption of the molars on the un-opposed side (Δ) by 0.15mm.

Figure 3: Sequential vital dye labeling of control (A) and un-opposed (B) molars during a 12-day study. Note the generation of new cementum (cem) and alveolar bone (ab) at the apical tip of the un-opposed molars (from Holliday et al. 2005).

TOOTH MOVEMENT

Movement of teeth within jaws is quite an extraordinary phenomenon. There are a number of venues and mechanisms for tooth movement, including (i) eruption, (ii) orthodontic movement, (iii) intrusion, (iv) drift, and others. Our lab has been interested in a minuscule offspring of pre-war Vienna’s interdisciplinary environment, the model system of the un-opposed molar, and the lives and fates of the scientists and scientific ideas associated with this model system. In this model system, rodent molars super-erupt beyond the plane of occlusion, once their antagonists have been removed. This coronal event of super-eruption occurs in tandem with significant new formation of apical tissues, cementum and alveolar bone. We are interested in the mechanisms and clinical implications of this and other forms of tooth movement. The tooth movement project has been designed to honor and continue the legacy of Allan G. Brodie and the Vienna Oral Biologists at the University of Illinois who first worked on these questions 50 years ago and established a leadership of the University of Illinois in basic Orthodontic Research.

Figure 4: Students and mentors involved in the tooth movement project. From left to right are Sean Holliday (orthodontic graduate student, now in private practice), Dr. Xianghong Luan (mentor), and Dr. Cameron Walker, UIC’s first successful D.D.S./Ph.D. student

Students and mentors involved in the tooth movement project include Drs. Sean Holliday (orthodontic graduate student, now in private practice in Hawaii), Dr. Xianghong Luan (mentor), and Cameron Walker

Walker, C., Ito, Y., Dangaria, S., Luan, X., and Diekwisch, T.G.H. (2008). RANKL, osteopontin and osteoclast homeostasis in a hyper-occlusion mouse model. Eur. J. Oral Sci. 116, 312-318.

Luan, X., and Diekwisch, T.G.H. (2007). Vienna - Chicago: the cultural transformation of the model system of the un-opposed molar. Bioessays 29, 819-830.

Luan, X., Ito, Y., Holliday, S., Walker, C., Daniel, J., Galang, T.M., Fukui, T., Yamane, A., Begole, E., Evans, C., and Diekwisch, T.G.H. (2007). Extracellular matrix-mediated tissue remodeling following axial movement of teeth. J. Histochem. Cytochem. 55, 127-140.

Holliday, S., Schneider, B., Galang, M.T., Fukui, T., Yamane, A., Luan, X., and Diekwisch, T.G.H. (2005). Bones, Teeth, and Genes: A Genomic Homage to Harry Sicher’s “Axial Movement of Teeth“. World J. Orthodontics 6, 61-70.