Ridge preservation with the use of deproteinized bovine bone mineral

The aim was to examine the tissue composition of extraction sockets that had been grafted with deproteinized bovine bone mineral and allowed to heal for 6 months.

Twenty-five subjects with one tooth each scheduled for extraction and replacement with dental implants were recruited. The assigned teeth were carefully removed. The site/patient was thereafter allocated to a test or a control group. In the test group patients, Bio-Oss(®) Collagen was placed to fill the fresh extraction socket while in the controls no grafting was performed. After about 6 months of healing, a biopsy was sampled from the center of the extraction site. The specimens were decalcified, embedded in paraffin, sectioned, and stained in HTX. The proportions occupied by mineralized bone, osteoid, bone marrow, fibrous tissue, and Bio-Oss(®) particles were determined by morphometric point counting.

Mineralized bone made up 57.4 ± 12.4% of the control sites (C) and 48.9 ± 8.5% of the T1 sites (graft material not included). The amount of bone marrow (C: 7.1 ± 6.1%, T1: 2.1 ± 3.1%) and osteoid (C: 7.3 ± 4.9%, T1: 1.9 ± 2.1%) was about five times greater in the control than in the test sites. Fibrous tissue comprised 23.1 ± 16.3% (C) and 40.0 ± 11.9% (T1). I n the T2 sites (graft material included), the percentage mineralized bone was 39.9 ± 8.6 while the proportions of bone marrow and osteoid were 1.8 ± 2.5% and 1.6 ± 1.8%. Fibrous tissue occupied 32.4 ± 9.2% and Bio-Oss(®) particles 19.0 ± 6.5% of the T2 sites.

Placement of the biomaterial in the fresh extraction socket retarded healing. The Bio-Oss(®) particles were not resorbed but became surrounded by new bone. This may explain why grafted extraction sites may fail to undergo dimensional change.