RESUMO
The use of monofilament nonabsorbable suture materials is not common in dentistry. Althought it is known that multifilaments suture materials induce greater cellular reaction, most dentist prefer to use cotton and silk. Rigidity and package memory are desadvantage of monofilament nonabsorbable suture materials. A new material, Polybutester (Novafil), has been used successfully in medicine but its use is not common in dentistry. Seventy male and male Wistar rats were used to study the clinical response of skin and abdominal wall muscle to the use Novafil and nylon sutures. Under general anesthesia, standard wounds were created in the dorsum and abdoman of the animals and sutured with either Novafil or nylon. The animals were sacrificed immediately, 12, 24, and 72 hours and at 4, 5 and 7 days to evaluate the clinical aspect of both wounds. Polybutester presented some adventages such as strength, lack of package memory, elasticity and flexebility which made suturing quicker and easier. Some subjects presented abdminal wound edema during the period and 6 animals developed infection of abdominal wounds within seven days. These initial findings show that Novafil easy to handle and would be better tolerated in the mouth than nylon resulting in less discomfort for the patient. Novafil can be used safely on skin and mucosal wounds and, if necessary, it can be used in internal sutures because it irritates less than nylon