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Updated: Feb 21, 2026
Calvarial Model of Bone Augmentation in Rabbit for Assessment of Bone Growth and Neovascularization in Bone Substitution Materials
Published on: August 13, 2019
Effects of local alendronate administration on bone defect healing. Histomorphometric and radiological evaluation in
Taha Özer1, Alper Aktas2, Emre Barıs3
1DDS, PhD, Department of Oral Surgery, Hacettepe University, Turkey. Scientific, intellectual, conception and design of the study; acquisition, analysis and interpretation of data; technical procedures; statistics analysis; manuscript preparation and writing; final approval.
Purpose:
To performed a histomorphometric and radiological study to evaluate the effects of alendronate sodium administered locally in mandibular bone defects created in rabbits.
Methods:
Two circular defects 5 mm in diameter were created bilaterally in the mandibular corpus of 20 New Zealand rabbits (i.e., four defects per animal). Each defect received one of four treatments: no treatment (EC group), alendronate irrigation (AL group), autogenous bone grafting (AG group), or alendronate irrigation with autogenous bone grafting (AL+AG group). Histomorphometric and radiological assessments were conducted at 4 and 8 weeks after surgery.
Results:
Between-group comparisons of the new bone area, the value of the AL+AG group was significantly lower thanthe remaining three groups at 4 weeks postoperatively. In all groups, the new bone area was significantly larger at 8 weeks than at 4 weeks. The residual graft area at 4 and 8 weeks was significantly higher in the AL+AG group than in the AG group, although it was significantly smaller at 8 weeks than at 4 weeks in both these groups.
Conclusion:
The use of alendronate sodium in conjunction with autogenous bone grafting improves the osteoconductive properties of the graft, enhances graft retention in the defect, and improves ossification.
