Junichi Watahiki

Teeth Alignment Innovation Center

The fusion of orthodontic treatment and periodontal tissue-regeneration therapy has attracted attention. However, regenerated bone has a higher density than physiologic bone, which may cause problems including root resorption or stagnation of orthodontic movement. Therefore, the optimized periodontal regeneration for orthodontic movement (O-PRO) ap...

Autografts, which are commonly used for alveolar bone regeneration, often utilize the ilium and jaw bones as alternative bone graft materials. Maxillary and mandibular bones are developmentally derived from neural crest-derived cells (NCDCs), while the majority of trunk and limb bones are derived from mesoblast cells. Consequently, the host bone gr...

Introduction Mandibular growth is believed to be strongly related to mastication. Furthermore, mandibular condylar cartilage is known to be derived from neural crest cells. We examined whether the degree of chewing affects condylar cartilage growth of the mandible. Methods Mice were fed diets with varying hardness. Genes specific to neural crest–d...

Background and Objective The jaw bone, unlike most other bones, is derived from neural crest stem cells, so we hypothesized that it may have different characteristics to bones from other parts of the body, especially in the nature of its periosteum. The periosteum exhibits osteogenic potential and has received considerable attention as a grafting m...

Mastication is one of the most important oral functions, and the period during which mastication is acquired overlaps with the term of rapid development and maturation of the neural systems. In particular, the acquisition period after weaning is related to the potential onset of mental disorders. However, the roles of mastication during this period...

In the clinical field of jawbone formation, the use of autogenous bone as the graft material is the gold standard. However, there are some problems with this technique, such as risk of infection on the donor side, the limited amount of available bone mass, and marked resorption of the grafted bone. We investigated the potential for using teeth as a...

It is well known that mastication has a significant influence on mandibular growth and development, but the mechanism behind this effect has not yet been clarified. Furthermore, no studies have examined the effects of changes in mastication on the three-dimensional (3D) morphometry of the mandible. The aim of the present study was to investigate th...

Mandibular condylar cartilage can be distinguished from articular and growth cartilages of long bones based on several differences in morphology, physiology, and function between these structures. However, there is almost no information available on the types of genes that contribute to these differences. In this study, genes that were differential...

The aim of this study was to estimate the magnitude of genetic factors involved in the pathogenesis of Class III malocclusion in Japanese patients. We investigated 311 index cases (112 male, 199 female ; mean age 23.7 years) with Class III malocclusion. A questionnaire was used to determine the occurrence of Class III malocclusion among relatives....

Little is known about the mechanisms of mandibular condylar growth. In this study, gene expression in the mandibular condylar cartilage of young post-natal mice was monitored by means of a cDNA microarray, real-time PCR, and laser microdissection before and after the initiation of mastication (newborn, 7 days, 21 days, initiation of mastication, an...

To elucidate the role of leptin on maxillo-facial morphological growth using hereditary obesity model ob/ob mice, and to examine the presence of the leptin receptor gene expression in the mouse condylar head cartilage. Leptin was intraperitoneally administered once a day in 10 C57BL/6J (lean) and 10 C57BL/6J-ob (ob/ob) mice (leptin administration g...

To investigate the influence of forced lateral bite on mandibular growth, micro X-ray computed tomography (CT) was used for the purpose evaluating condylar cartilage and cancellous bone formation in 10 male Wister rats (3 weeks of age). SETTINGS AND SAMPLE POPULATION: The rats were divided into two groups--experimental and control. In experimental...