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Updated: May 31, 2026
Calvarial Model of Bone Augmentation in Rabbit for Assessment of Bone Growth and Neovascularization in Bone Substitution Materials
Published on: August 13, 2019
Evaluation of a biodegradable synthetic hydrogel used as a guided bone regeneration membrane: an experimental study
Daniel S Thoma1, Michel M Dard1, Gian-Andrea Hälg1
1Clinic of Fixed and Removable Prosthodontics and Dental Material Science, Center for Dental Medicine, Zurich, SwitzerlandInstitut Straumann AG, Basel, Switzerland.
Objectives:
To test whether or not an experimental polyethylene glycol (PEG) membrane maintains the bone graft volume and contributes to the preservation of the ridge contour in comparison with a commercially available synthetic membrane.
Materials And Methods:
In 18 dogs, all mandibular premolars and the first molars were extracted. Ten weeks later, acute standardized defects were prepared. The defects of four dogs were randomly assigned to three modalities: (1) PEG plus deproteinized bovine bone mineral (DBBM) (PEG), (2) a resorbable glycolide trimethylene carbonate membrane plus DBBM (PGA-TMC), and (3) DBBM alone (DBBM). These dogs were then sacrificed for the baseline measurements. The remaining defects of 14 dogs were randomly assigned to (1) PEG plus DBBM, (2) PGA-TMC plus DBBM, (3) DBBM, and (4) empty defect. The dogs were sacrificed at baseline (n=4), 4 weeks (n=7), or at 16 weeks (n=7). Mixed model regressions and the non-parametric Brunner-Langer method were applied for statistical analysis.
Results:
At baseline, equal tissue augmentation was observed in all groups. At 4 and 16 weeks, the greatest augmented area fractions were calculated for PEG (103%; 107%, respectively), followed by PGA-TMC (98%; 91%), DBBM (85%; 78%), and empty (46%; 54%), being statistically significant different (P<0.001) between PEG and empty at 4 and 16 weeks, and PEG and DBBM at 16 weeks. The overall decrease (P≤0.01) in the amount of bone graft between baseline and 16 weeks was -14% (PEG), -22% (PGA-TMC), and -23% (DBBM).
Conclusions:
The study demonstrates that the combination of the PEG membrane with DBBM maintains the bone graft volume over time better than controls. The PEG membrane with DBBM was also the most effective method to preserve the ridge contour.
