HEALING OF EXPERIMENTALLY CREATED DEFECTS - A REVIEW

Within cranio-maxillofacial surgery and orthopedic surgery a bone graf t or a bone substitute is required to recontour or assist bony healing in repair of osseous congenital deformities, or in repair of deformit y due to trauma or to surgical excision after elimination of osseous d isease processes exceeding a certain size. An autogenous bone graft is the optimal material of choice, however its use is problematic due to donor site morbidity, sparse amounts and uncontrolled resorption. Imm unological responses and risk of viral contamination of allogenous and xenogenous bone materials make the use of these materials questionabl e. Healing and degradation of alloplastic materials are inconsistent w ith subsequent restricted use. The principle of guided tissue regenera tion excluding soft tissue cells from a certain area is not alone suff icient to insure complete bony healing. Recombinant bone morphogenetic proteins have with success been added as adjuncts to already known bi omaterials. In the future, inductive materials together with a suitabl e carrier and a biodegradable membrane may be the choice of bone subst itute used within cranio-maxillofacial and orthopaedic surgery.