RESUMEN
Purpose: This study was aimed to evaluate the healing of animal jaw defects treated with resorbable bioactive glass [RBG] by using bone densitometry and immunohistochemical expression of fibronectin [FN]
Materials and Methods: 20 guinea pigs randomly allocated into equal 4 groups were used in this study. In each animal, a full thickness surgical defect involving the cortex and spongiosa was made at the anterior mandible, inferior to the lower central incisors. The left surgical defect was left empty as a control side and the right was loosely packed with RBG as a study side. Animals were sacrificed at 1 week, and 1, 2 and 3 months postoperatively, whereby specimens were prepared for evaluation with bone densitometry scanning and immunohistochemistry
Results: On gross examination, no local tissue reaction was observed. The material was compatible, non-toxic, and not recognized as foreign in all animals. Although the defects filled with RBC contained the greatest amount of bone trabeculae, bone densitometry scanning revealed no statistically significant difference between groups [P>0.05] at the different intervals of the study
Conclusion: Despite the difference in healing of animal jaw defects was not dramatic between the control and study sides. RBG may be of value in large bony defects, whereby it acts as a scaffold for bone tissue ingrowth and organization, with subsequent dissolution of the scaffold material through the processes of biodegradation and bone remodeling