title: The bone growing chamber: a new model to investigate spontaneous and guided bone regeneration of artificial defects in the human jawbone.
abstract: Spontaneous bone repair and regeneration of jawbone defects have been insufficiently studied in the dental literature. The present study analyzes a new human model designed to evaluate the basis for spontaneous bone regeneration in human jawbones. Hollow titanium cylinders, termed "bone growing chambers," were prepared with commercially pure titanium. Ten volunteers undergoing routine implant surgery were enlisted. A properly calibrated drill was used to prepare the bone-growing-chamber bed. The bone growing chamber was inserted inside the bone defect, and care was taken to submerge the cylinder at the level of the bone crest. After an adequate healing period, the bone growing chambers were retrieved with a small quantity of peripheral bone using a calibrated trephine bur. The retrieved specimens were processed to obtain thin undecalcified ground sections. The stable bone growing chambers showed bone tissue inside the growing space. The maturity of the regenerated bone was related to the time of removal. The bone growing chamber provides a well-defined space that is easy to prepare and to retrieve; its dimensions are always identical and it allows quantitative measurements of bone regeneration inside the chamber space.
authors.affiliation: Biomaterials Clinical Research Association, Pescara, Italy. paulbioc@mbox.vol.it
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Trisi
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Rao
mesh_terms: D000539:Alveolar Process / Q000502:physiology* / Q000601:surgery; D001861:Bone Regeneration; D046508:Culture Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation; D003758:Dental Implantation, Endosseous; D016557:Guided Tissue Regeneration, Periodontal / Q000295:instrumentation*; D006801:Humans; D014945:Wound Healing