A model for the evaluation of mandibular bone response to implant materials

An in vivo animal (goat) mandibular bone model has been evaluated for the cortical and trabecular bone response to biomaterials with different elastic modulus and/or different surfaces. The effect of the elastic modulus on the bone formation was also studied. The difficulties encountered in orientation of the implants probably could have been surmounted if pre-operative radiographs had been available. It was also established that there is a large variance in the amount of trabecular and cortical bone in the mandible of the goat 'bone model'.