Nurgül Kömerik; Alper Tufan & Nilgün Kapucuoglu

Summary

The aim of this comparative observational study was to compare the proliferative activity of dental follicles surrounding impacted maxillary canines and mandibular third molars. Following extraction, forty follicles of the impacted mandibular third molars and 40 follicles of the impacted maxillary canines were removed. Epithelial cell proliferative activity of these samples was assessed using immunohistochemical labeling for Ki-67, minichromosome maintenance 2 (MCM-2) protein and epithelial growth factor receptor (EGFR). Intensity and extent of Ki-67, MCM-2 and EGFR expressions were evaluated by a scoring formula. The lining epithelium of the maxillary canine follicles had mean scores of 4.65±0.27 for Ki-67, 1.25±0.33 for MCM-2 and 7.30±0.23 for EGFR which were not significantly different than those expressed in the mandibular third molar follicles (4.46±0.26 for Ki-67, 1.39±0.33 for MCM-2 and 7.21±0.20 for EGFR). The expression of Ki-67 and MCM-2 could not be detected in the epithelial remnants within the connective tissue in both groups. EGFR expression, detected in the epithelial remnants in both groups, was not significantly different (7.28±0.14 in the canine group as opposed to 7.21±0.16 in the third molar group). Based on these findings, it can be deduced that impacted mandibular third molars and maxillary canines carry similar risk of pathology development.

KEY WORDS: Dental follicle; Ki-67; MCM-2; EGFR; Immunohistochemistry.

How to cite this article