Effectiveness of autogenous tooth bone used as a graft material for regeneration of bone in miniature pig

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: This study examined the effect of autogenous tooth bone used as a graft material for bone regeneration in an artificial bony defect of minipigs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Four healthy minipigs, weighing approximately 35-40 kg, were used. Four standardized artificial two-walled bony defects, 5 mm in length and depth, were made on the bilateral partial edentulous alveolar ridge on the mandible of minipigs, and autogenous tooth bone was augmented in the right side as the experimental group. On the other hand, only alloplastic bone graft material HA was grafted with the same size and manner in the left side as the control group. All minipigs were sacrificed at 4 weeks after a bone graft and evaluated histologically by Haematoxylin-eosin staining. The specimens were also evaluated semi-quantitatively via a histomorphometric study. The percentage of new bone over the total area was evaluated using digital software for an area calculation. RESULTS: All specimens were available but one in the left side (control group) and two in the right side (experimental group) were missing during specimen preparation. The amount of bone formation and remodeling were higher in all experimental groups than the control. The mean percentage area for new bone in the experimental and control groups was 43.74+/-11.96% and 30.79+/-2.93%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Autogenous tooth bone is a good alternative to autogenous bone with the possible clinical feasibility of an autogenous tooth bone graft in the reconstruction of bony defects.