**5. Conclusions**

Within the limitations of the present study, it was demonstrated that aseptic marginal ligatures made of silk and cotton triggered an immunological reaction in the peri-implant tissue of rabbits, with abundant numbers of inflammatory cells in contact with the ligatures. Marginal bone resorption was also evident adjacent to the ligatures, which rejected our null-hypothesis that ligatures cannot induce bone resorption in the absence of a bacterial plaque. Future studies may aim to describe the tissue reactions at both earlier and later time points, as well as further elucidate the details of the immunological events responsible for bone resorption adjacent to aseptic marginal ligatures.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, D.R., S.G., T.A., P.T. and A.W.; Data curation, S.G., P.H.J. and A.W.; Formal analysis, D.R., P.H.J. and A.W.; Funding acquisition, A.W.; Investigation, D.R., S.G., T.A., P.H.J. and A.W.; Methodology, D.R., S.G., T.A., P.T., C.B.J. and P.H.J.; Project administration, T.A., and A.W.; Supervision, T.A., P.T., C.B.J. and A.W.; Validation, C.B.J.; Visualization, D.R., S.G., C.B.J. and P.H.J.; Writing—Original Draft, D.R., S.G., C.B.J. and P.H.J.; Writing—Review & Editing, D.R., S.G., T.A., P.T., C.B.J. and A.W.

**Funding:** This study was funded by the Swedish Research Council grant number 2015-02971.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.
