Cheek mucosa response to silk, cotton, and nylon suture materials.

The cheek mucosa reacted to the implantation of cotton and silk with an aseptic inflammatory exudate which was found 24 hours and 4 days postoperatively. The leukocytic infiltrate was followed by a histiocytic reaction. Which was established at 7 days but which later progressively declined. The comparison of these findings with those previously obtained from gingival tissues revealed that the leukocytic infiltration in the gingiva was minimal or nonexistent. Probably, the difference in the leukocytic reacting capacity of the gingiva and cheek mucosa was due to the different histologic architecture present in both tissues and directly related to the active capacity of the suture materials to modify the internal biologic medium.