[Jaw-enlargement with glass ceramics in the animal experiment]

The use of alloplastic material in the reconstruction of the defective or atrophic mandible appears obvious as the difficulties and risks of bone or cartilage transplants are well known. It appears that all the materials used up to now were demarcated by the bone as foreign bodies so that one could only observe strong union without a connective tissue line of separation with glass ceramics. In experimental operations in the pig, box shaped osteotomies were cut into the lower jaw and glass ceramic bodies were fixed into the clefts. Clinical and histological examinations proved the bone acceptance. It appears that these bio-active glass ceramics are particularly suited as bone replacement.