In order to study the action of
sodium diphenylhydantoinate (DPH) on bone repair and during apical
scars,
vitallium implants were included in four maxillary and mandibular bony cavities in Sprague-Dawley rats. After one month, the implants were removed. In half the cavities, selected as the experimental group
bleeding was avoided. In the controls, the bony walls were perforated in order to induce formation of a good-quality clot. The day before the implants were removed and everyday until sacrifice, the animals were injected with
sodium hydantoinate (10 mg/100g b/w) ip. They were sacrificed 1d, 4d, 8d, 16d, 28d and 56 days after the implants had been removed. The jaws were isolated, prepared for
paraffin sections, and the areas of bone repair cut serially and studied under the photonic microscope. Another series of animals without
sodium hydantoinate treatment, was studied for comparison. It was concluded that, in animals under DPH treatment: the bone repair was consistently delayed; a good-quality clot led to a better repair than a poor-quality clot which led cogeneralised
collagen formation; the bony defects were proportional to the dose of the injected
drug; the bony defects were qualitative including: thin bone traceculae, large osteocytes,
collagen overgrowth;
foreign bodies included in the bony repair areas were often encapsulated and tolerated; the percentage of collagenous bony defects (tapical
scars) increased after
sodium hydantoine treatment.