The Oxygen Consumption of Healing Gingiva

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Abstract
A correlated histological and manometric (Warburg technic) study was conducted of gingival tissue in various stages of healing following gingivectomy. The marginal gingiva in 4 areas in each of 17 dogs was removed and the histological picture and oxygen consumption detd. Healing gingival tissue subsequently removed from the same areas at intervals up to 64 days after the initial operation was similarly studied. The findings indicate that the QO2 of the normal gingiva of the dog (1.3 [plus or minus] 0.07) is comparable to that of the human (1.6 [plus or minus] 0.37); oxygen consumption in different stages of healing following gingivectomy varies in accordance with the nature of the microscopic tissue changes; oxygen consumption is elevated in the course of gingival healing until the maximum QO2 (5.4) is reached at the 14th post-operative day. From the 14th to the 21st day, there is a decline in QO2 to approx. the level of normal gingiva. The assumption that the artificial introduction of oxygen would appreciably hasten the normal cellular processes in the course of gingival healing is not supported.
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