MANDIBULAR DISTRACTION OSTEOGENESIS - A COMPARISON OF DISTRACTION RATES IN THE RABBIT MODEL

The rabbit model has been used to study the effects of different rates of distraction upon mandibular bone, Bilateral distraction was perfor med at two different rates anterior to the molar teeth, Both experimen tal groups were significantly inferior to sham operated controls in te rms of bone density (DEXA) and mechanical testing. No difference in ne w bone formation between the two distraction rates was detected by the se modalities, However, histological examination revealed non-union to be more common in the rapidly distracted group, This suggests that at tempts to shorten the duration of external fixation in clinical mandib ular distraction osteogenesis should be by methods other than more rap id distraction.