Tritiated thymidine uptake in periodontal ligament cells of dogs' teeth stored in various media for extended time periods

Abstract
The purpose of this study was to evaluate a new storage solution, Conditioned Medium, vs Hank's balanced salt solution and ViaSpan with respect to the viability of periodontal ligament cells of exarticulated teeth. Teeth were stored for periods of 6, 48, and 96 hours in Hank's balanced salt solution, ViaSpan (Dupont Pharmaceuticals), or Conditioned Medium. Teeth were cultured for 24 hours in Dulbecco's medium supplemented with tritiated thymidine. The cultured teeth were sectioned and evaluated with autoradiography. Control teeth were extracted and immediately treated as above without storage. Mitotic activity was indicated by clusters of five or more grains over the nuclei of fibroblasts in the remaining periodontal membrane. The ratio of labeled to unlabeled cells (labeling index) was calculated for each treatment group. When storage time was compared across all groups, 96 hours was significantly different from 6 and 48 hours (PP0.10). After comparison of the nine experimental groups with the control group, only Hank's balanced salt solution at 96 hours was significantly different (P>0.004).