The Establishment of a Murine Maxillary Orthodontic Model

Summary

Here we demonstrate step-by-step a manageable, orthodontic tooth movement protocol operated on a murine maxillary model. With the explicit explanation of each step and visual demonstration, researchers can master this model and apply it to their experimental needs with a few modifications.

Abstract

Due to the lack of reproducible protocols for establishing a murine maxillary orthodontic model, we present a reliable and reproducible protocol to provide researchers with a feasible tool to analyze mechanical loading-associated bone remodeling. This study presents a detailed flowchart in addition to different types of schematic diagrams, operation photos, and videos. We performed this protocol on 11 adult wide-type C57/B6J mice and harvested samples on postoperative days 3, 8, and 14. The micro-CT and histopathological data have proven the success of tooth movements coupled with bone remodeling using this protocol. Furthermore, according to the micro-CT results on days 3, 8, and 14, we have divided bone modeling into three stages: preparation stage, bone resorption stage, and bone formation stage. These stages are expected to help researchers concerned with different stages to set sample collection time reasonably. This protocol can equip researchers with a tool to carry out regenerative analysis of bone remodeling.

Introduction

Bone is a highly active reconstructed tissue that adapts its size, shape, and properties through the lifetime of the individual^1,2. In addition to hormones, aging, nutrition, and other biological or biochemical factors³, the idea that mechanical load is the most determining factor has garnered general acceptance^4,5. Under some circumstances with abnormal mechanical load, the imbalance between bone resorption and bone formation may lead to abnormal bone remodeling and bone disorders. Bone diseases such as disuse osteoporosis and ....

Protocol

The animal procedures in this study were reviewed and approved by the Ethical Committee of the West China School of Stomatology, Sichuan University (WCHSIRB-D-2017-041). Adult C57BL/6 mice were used in this study (see the Table of Materials). This protocol adds mechanical load to the right maxillary first molar (M1) for mesial movement where a highly coordinated bone remodeling process is induced by coupling of bone resorption and bone formation (Figure 1).

Discussion

In this paper, we tried to describe the simplest orthodontic tooth movement protocol on murine maxillary model step by step to study the latent mechanisms of mechanical load-induced bone remodeling. Apart from research on bone remodeling, there are some other mainstream applications of this method: 1) methodological research on the acceleration of orthodontic tooth movement; 2) research on orthodontic root resorption; 3) biological mechanisms of orthodontic tooth movement and pain; 4) research on the transgenic model.

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Experimental Models: Mouse Lines
C57/B6J	Gempharmatech Experimental Animals Company	C57/B6J
Critical Commercial Assays
Hematoxylin and Eosin Stain Kit	Biosharp	BL700B
Masson’s Trichrome Stain Kit	Solarbio	G1340
Instruments
27 G needle	Chengdu Xinjin Shifeng Medical Apparatus & Instruments Co. LTD.	SB1-074(IV)
Adhesives	Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co., Ltd.	41282
Corkboard	DELI Group Co., Ltd.	8705
Cotton balls	Haishi Hainuo Group Co.,  Ltd.	20120047
Cotton sticks	Lakong Medical Devices Co., Ltd.	M6500R
Customized coil spring	Chengdu Mingxing Spring Co., Ltd.	1109-02
Forceps	Chengdu Shifeng Co., Ltd.	none
Light-cured fluid resin	Shofu Dental Trading (SHANGHAI) Co., Ltd.	518785
Light curer	Liang Ya Dental Equipment Co., Ltd.	LY-A180
Medical adhesive tapes	Haishi Hainuo Group Co.,  Ltd.	0008-2014
Medical non-woven fabric	Henan Yadu Industrial Co., Ltd.	01011500018
Needle holders	Chengdu Shifeng Co., Ltd.	none
Rubber bands	Haishi Hainuo Group Co.,  Ltd.	32X1
Surgical scissors	Chengdu Shifeng Co., Ltd.	none
Tweezers	Chengdu Shifeng Co., Ltd.	none