Lateral augmentation of the mandible in minipigs with a synthetic nanostructured hydroxyapatite block

• Published in: Journal of biomedical materials research. Part B, Applied biomaterials Applied biomaterials, 2011-02, Vol.96B (2), p.342-350
• Main Authors: Kirchhoff, Mark, Lenz, Solvig, Henkel, Kai-Olaf, Frerich, Bernhard, Holzhüter, Gerd, Radefeldt, Sven, Gerber, Thomas
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: absorbable; Absorbable Implants; allograft; Animals; Biocompatible Materials - therapeutic use; Biological and medical sciences; Bone Substitutes; Durapatite - therapeutic use; histomorphometry; hydroxyapatite; Implants, Experimental; Mandible - surgery; Medical sciences; nanomaterials; Nanostructures - therapeutic use; Osteogenesis; Silica Gel; Surgery (general aspects). Transplantations, organ and tissue grafts. Graft diseases; Swine; Swine, Miniature; Technology. Biomaterials. Equipments
• ISSN: 1552-4973; 1552-4981; 1552-4981
• DOI: 10.1002/jbm.b.31775

The purpose of this study was to evaluate biomaterial degradation and new bone formation after implantation of a nanostructured hydroxyapatite (HA) grafting block. Furthermore, physical characteristics of the biomaterial were measured. The biomaterial consists of nanostructured HA embedded in a porous matrix of silica (SiO2) gel. The blocks with two different contents of silica (group A: 24 wt % and group B: 39 wt %) were fixed with titanium screws at the lateral aspect of the mandible of minipigs (n = 5). The specific surface areas of both blocks were measured using Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) equation and mercury intrusion. In all animals, the wound healing was uneventful. After 5 weeks, the biomaterial percentage was 51.5% ± 12.1% for group A and 33.2% ± 5.9% for group B (p = 0.017). New bone formation accounted to 7.6% ± 6.0% for group A and 15.3% ± 8.3% for group B (p = 0.126) after 5 weeks. After 10 weeks, further resorption of the biomaterial led to percentages of 30.6% ± 10.0% for group A and 12.1% ± 6.7% for group B (p = 0.000). After 10 weeks, new bone formations were measured to be 34.1% ± 10.8% in group A and 39.9% ± 13.5% in group B (p = 0.383). The rate of degradation of the biomaterial is controlled by the composition of the material. A higher content of silica gel matrix leads to faster degradation of the biomaterial. The formation of new bone failed to show a significant difference between both groups. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 2011.