Incorporation of three types of bone block implants in the facial skeleton

The regenerative response on autogenous cancellous and cortical bone grafts, and on a commercial available xenogenous resorbable bone mineral (RBM) (Bio-Oss, Geistlich-Pharma, Wolhusen, Switzerland) was compared in standardized bony defects related to a paranasal sinus. On 15 skeletally mature goats four critical sized full thickness bone defects were trephined in the frontal bone. These defects were filled at random with a cortical bone plug, a cancellous bone plug, a plug of spongious RBM cut into shape or left empty. Fluorochrome bone markers were injected subcutaneously 1 and 5 weeks after transplantation, and one week before the animals were killed. The animals were killed at 3, 6, 12 and 24 weeks after surgery. Histological evaluation showed that autogenous bone grafts were all accepted and incorporated in a similar way as in calvarial defects. RBM was only osteoconductive. New bone was formed at the margins of the defects, and only little of the RBM was incorporated. Most of the RBM was gradually resorbed by multinucleated osteoclast-like cells.