OBJECTIVETo observe the effectiveness of prevention and cure for maxillary growth deformity following tissue engineered oral mucosa implantation on mucoperiosteal denuded palate process in young rat.

METHODSHard palate mucoperiosteum of a SD baby rat were excised and oral keratinocytes were isolated and cultured. Tissue engineered oral mucosa was fabricated with the cultured oral keratinocytes and the membrane made of sodium alginate (SA). 80 female three-week-old SD rats were used as subjects in this study. The animals were divided randomly into a normal control group and 3 experimental groups, each group included 20 rats. Normal control group (NG) were not operated. Hard palate mucoperiosteum on left side in all experimental groups were excised, exposed bone were not treated in denuded group (DG), but repaired with membrane in material group (MG) and repaired with the tissue engineered oral mucosa in mucosal group (MUG). All the animals were sacrificed at 9th week postoperatively (12 weeks old), and the clean widths of right and left hard palatal were measured under a dissection microscope. The difference between palatal widths of two sides and the asymmetry ratio between the different groups were compared and analyzed.

RESULTSNo significant difference in asymmetry was discovered between the DG and the MG, but the asymmetry in MUG was less than DG or MG.

CONCLUSIONTissue engineered oral mucosal implantation in palatoplasty is an effective method in preventing and curing secondary maxilla deformity by repairing denuded bone wound.