Measurement of the uniaxial elasticity of oral mucosa in vivo after CO2-laser evaporation and surgical excision.

The stress-strain relation of oral mucosa of dogs was measured before and 6 weeks after surgical removal of mucosa. Both CO2-laser evaporation and excision were employed. Measurements were done with a miniature tensile tester, especially developed for this purpose. The load-strain ratio of the healed mucosa was proportional to the histologically determined thickness of the healed epithelium and scar tissue together. Laser evaporation caused a 75% increase, excision almost a threefold increase of the load-strain ratio compared with untreated tissue.