Variations in Bone Regeneration Adjacent to Implants Augmented With Barrier Membranes Alone or With Demineralized Freeze-Dried Bone or Autologous Grafts: A Study in Dogs

A study was performed in two large hound dogs to evaluate the bone induction potential of demineralized freeze-dried bone (DFDBA) placed into defects adjacent to implants that were placed into extraction sockets. Two implants were untreated controls, two implants received only Gore-Tex Augmentation Membrane (GTAM), two implants received GTAM and autologous bone, and six sites received GTAM and DFDBA. DFDBA was prepared from the long bones of a dog of the same breed as the experimental dogs. P2, P3, and P4 were extracted bilaterally, and buccal defects were created and measured. Twelve commercially pure titanium Brånemark implants were placed. At 12 weeks, clinical measurements were taken and the dogs were sacrificed. The untreated control defects had a mean clinical bone fill of 1.75 mm (37%). Sites treated with autologous bone had a mean of 5.0 mm (95%) of clinical bone fill within the original defects. Sites treated with DFDBA and barriers had 3.8 mm (75%) of bone fill, while sites treated with membranes alone had a mean of 4.2 mm (80%) of bone fill. Histologic evaluation revealed that DFDBA sites had retained nonviable bone chips in 45.4% of the bone matrix, and only 8.3% was lamellar bone. Autologous graft sites had 26.2% retained bone chips within the bone matrix, and 61% percent of the matrix consisted of lamellar bone. For GTAM-only sites, 70.2% of the matrix was lamellar bone and 29.8% was woven bone. Retained DFDBA bone chips were nonviable, occasionally surrounded by woven bone, and appeared to break up and then remineralize without the presence of osteoclastic or osteoblastic activity. Retained autologous bone chips were surrounded and incorporated by the host bone. The autologous bone grafts and DFDBA implants were considered to be osteoconductive. For the three treatment groups, within the defects there were sparse bone-implant contacts. The results indicate that GTAM barriers alone or with autologous bone grafts produced the best clinical and histologic results. DFDBA did not appear to induce bone formation in any of the evaluated specimens. Keywords: autologous grafts, demineralized freeze-dried bone, immediately placed implants, remineralization