Abstract

The aim of the current study was to investigate the potential association of the Epidermal Growth (EGF) Factor levels of mRNA expression in oral epithelium with early healing response after surgical periodontal therapy. The study included forty-three patients undergoing surgical periodontal treatment by means of access flap in maxilla. A gingival tissue fragment was collected from the hard palate adjacent to the surgical field and was further processed for the evaluation of EGF expression in oral epithelial cells using real-time PCR. The trauma left, was followed up for the evaluation of the healing response at 1week (T1), 2 weeks (T2) and 2 months (T3). The modified Early Healing [M-EHI] and the Master Scar Proforma (M-MSPI) Indexes were used for the visual assessment of healing after intraoral photographs were taken. The effect of smoking in the healing period was also assessed. The results showed that EGF expression did not affect the healing response, as the association among the studied variables did not reach statistical significance at any time point. The results were similar even when smoking was considered. In conclusion, our study did not show any statistically significant association between the mRNA expression levels of EGF and the healing response.

Keywords: Periodontics; Epidermal growth factor; Wounds and injuries; Messenger RNA