RESUMO
This study was aimed at determining the suitability of rabbits for assessment of alveolar bone healing following tooth extraction. Methods: Six (6) adult female New Zealand rabbits were used for this study. They were acclimatized under stand ard laboratory conditions for two weeks before the commencement of the study. Tooth extraction wascarried out in all the rabbits and this was followed by histologic assessment of alveolar bone healing and osteocyte count at week 2 and week 4 post extraction. Results: All the rabbits tolerated the extraction procedure and no complication was recorded. Histo-architecture of alveolar bone was characterized by marked osteoblastic activity at week 2 post extraction and increased osteocyte presence at week 4 post extraction. Average value of osteocyte count (cells/µm2) was 20 ± 4.58 at week 2 post extraction and 32.33 ± 2.08 at week 4 post extraction. Conclusion: The result obtained from this study shows that the rabbit could well serve as an experimental anima l for assessment of alveolar bone healing following tooth extraction