Clinical and histological study of a xenogenic bone substitute used as a filler in postextractive alveolus.

AIM The development of oral implant techniques and the demand for the treatment of increasingly complex cases have drawn the attention of researchers and clinicians towards those systems and materials able to promote bone regeneration. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the clinical behavior and in particular the resorption times of the material used as a filler in postextractive alveolus with the intent of preserving the ridge volume, a prerequisite for successive insertion of osteointegrated fixtures. METHODS A group of 12 patients, aged between 30-40 years, have been selected at the Oral Surgery Unit of the San Giovanni Calibita Hospital in Rome. They all required an endosseous implant following the loss of a dental element due to radicular fracture of periodontal pathology. The grafting material used is OsteoBiol Putty, an antigen-free bone paste composed of 80% granulated mix and 20% pure collagen. RESULTS The results emerging from the histological analysis show that 3 months after insertion of this osteoconductive material in the receiving site it can no longer be detected in the samples collected and it has been completely substituted by trabecular bone tissue. CONCLUSIONS The conclusion is drawn that the heterologous material used in this study shows excellent manageability allowing the operator to easily and accurately remove and shape it in the receiving site.