[Bone substitute. Transplants and replacement materials--an update]

Due to the special characteristics, autologous bone for bone grafting remains the gold standard for defect filling. Besides allogenic bone transplants, as an alternative a set of bone substitutes has been established. An overview of the bone substitutes presently on the market is almost lost due to the abundance of products. The present paper gives a review of the materials available on the market. Different classification systems regarding origin, vitality, biological priority and chemical composition are described as well as the individual materials including the advantages and disadvantages. Finally, a description of tissue engineering and gene therapy gives a view of future prospective.