• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.485-493
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• 2007

Introduction: Although several types of calcium-phosphate coumpound have been frequently applied to osseous defects at maxillofacial area for many years, there is a controversy about its efficiency on bone conductivity comprared to xenograft bone substitute. Alloplastic carbonapatite has been introduced to improve disadvantages of hydroxyapatite and to mimic natural bone containing carbon elements. However, a preclinical study about its efficiency of osteoconductivity has not been reported. This study was performed to evaluate the early osteoconductive potential of synthetic carbonapatite with multiple pores relative to anorganic bovine xenograft. Materials and methods: Total 5 beagle dogs were used for maxillary augmentation model. The control (anorganic bovine xenograft) and experimental groups (synthetic carbonapatite) were randomly distributed in the mouth split design. After bone graft, all animals were sacrificed 4 weeks after surgery. Histological specimens with Masson Trichrome staining were made and histomorphometrically analysed with image analyser. The statistical analysis was performed using paired t-test. Results: In both groups, all animals had no complications. The experimental group showed relatively much new bone formation around and along the bone substitutes, whereas it was clearly reduced in the control group. The ratios of new bone area to total area, to material area and to the residual area excluding materials were higher in the experimental group ($0.13{\pm}0.03,\;0.40{\pm}0.13,\;0.20{\pm}0.06$ respectively) than in the control group ($0.01{\pm}0.01,\;0.03{\pm}0.02,\;0.03{\pm}0.03$, respectively). And the differences between both groups were statistically significant (p<0.001, <0.01, <0.01, respectively), while the ratio of material area to total area in two groups was not significant. Conclusion: Carbonapatite showed a high osteoconductivity in the early stage of bone healing compared to bovine derived anorganic bone substitute. This study suggests that this bone materials can be applied as a reliable bone substitute in the clinical treatment.