A New Anorganic Equine Bone Substitute for Oral Surgery: Structural Characterization and Regenerative Potential.

The research study focuses on the examination of the physical and chemical properties, as well as the in vivo efficacy, of an anorganic equine bone (AEB) as bone grafting material for oral surgeries. The findings indicate that the AEB shows similarities to human cancellous bone and demonstrates an effective bone regenerative potential similar to the conventional anorganic bovine bone.

Methods of evaluation and characterization of AEB

• The researchers used multiple techniques to determine the properties of the AEB. This includes Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) for structural characterization, X-ray Diffraction (XRD) for crystalline structure analysis, X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) for chemical composition determination and Fourier-Transformed Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy.
• Anorganic Bovine Bone (ABB), commonly used as bone grafting material, served as a control to compare the results from the AEB.

In vivo performance assessment

• An in vivo performance evaluation was conducted with nine Yucatan Minipigs in which 18 bone defects were prepared. Nine of these sites were grafted with AEB, and the others with ABB for comparison.
• The new bone formation, existing bone substitute, and local inflammatory and tissue effects were evaluated histologically at two distinct intervals – 30 and 90 days after the implants.

Findings and conclusions of the study

• The characterization revealed that the surface morphology, particle size, crystalline structure, and chemical composition of the AEB were similar to human cancellous bone, which is a type of bone that contains numerous large spaces, making it lightweight and suitable for grafting.
• The in vivo analysis showed that AEB successfully induces new bone formation and had a similar residual biomaterial pattern as seen with ABB. There were no significant inflammatory or tissue reaction observed suggesting its compatibility in the body.
• Based on the structural data and the in vivo results, the study concludes that AEB has the potential to be an effective bone graft substitute for oral surgery procedures.