Bone Repair via Osteon and Bio-Oss: A Comparative Histological and Histomorphometric Animal Study

Background and Aim: Autogenous bone grafts are considered the gold standard although they have several disadvantages, leading to a search for suitable alternative graft biomaterials. This study evaluates the histological and histomorphometric properties of regenerated bone in defects in rabbits following the application of two commercially available xenografts (Bio-Oss and Osteon). Materials and Methods: This animal study was carried out on 14 New Zealand rabbit calvaria. Four 6.5-mm critical-size defect (CSD) models of bone regeneration were formed in each surgical site. The first defect was filled with Bio-Oss, the second with large Osteon (L-Osteon), the third with small Osteon (S-Osteon), and the last one remained unfilled (the control group). The cases were sacrificed. Bone forming properties (amount of new bone formation, inflammation, and foreign body reaction) were observed at 4- and 8-week intervals through histological and histomorphometric examinations. The Friedman test, Kruskal-Wallis test, and Wilcoxon test for multiple comparisons were used for data analysis. The level of statistical significance was set at 0.05. Results: There was no statistically significant difference for regenerated bone among the four groups (P>0.05). The L-Osteon site showed more inflammation and foreign body reaction compared to the other groups.  Conclusion: The results of this study showed that Bio-Oss and Osteon appear to be highly biocompatible and osteoconductive and can thus successfully be used as bone substitutes in augmentation procedures.