Regeneration of Epithelium and Nerve Fibers Incident to Implantation

- Neuronal Similarity between Peri-Implant and Junctional Epithelium -

抄録

This review highlights the regeneration of gingival oral epithelium and neural elements incident to dental implantation. The regeneration process of nerve fibers can be divided into the three following stages; 1) an epithelial healing stage; 2) a completion stage of epithelial regeneration; and 3) a stage of osseointegration establishment. Prior to gradient disappearance of inflammatory reaction around the epithelium, the nerve fibers begin to regenerate in the healing peri-implant epithelium. After completion of epithelial healing, the peri-implant epithelium exhibits the same neural density and terminal morphology as the intact junctional epithelium. These regenerated nerve fibers show a beaded-in-appearance, suggesting that these fibers contain neuropeptides including calcitonin gene-related peptide and substance P which have diverse functions. These findings indicate that the peri-implant epithelium share some structural and functional features with normal junctional epithelium, although these two epithelia have different origins.