Experimental study of alveolar augmentation with a mixture of octacalcium phosphate and hydroxyapatite

Abstract

The present study was designed to investigate the process of bone formation induced by implantation of a mixture of octacalcium phosphate (OCP) and hydroxyapatite (HA)(OCP/HA) in the alveolar ridge of the rat mandible. Synthetic OCP and HA (weight ratio 1: 1) were mixed and implanted into the subperiosteal pocket of the rat mandible. Bone formation at the alveolar ridge was examined radiographically and histologically between 1 and 8 weeks after implantation. Granular radiopacity of the OCP/HA implant was obvious at week 1. Osteogenesis was initiated from the bone surface near the implantation site of the mandible at week 1 and some implanted OCP and HA were directly enclosed by newly formed bone at week 4. The present study suggests that the OCP/HA mixture could be used to augment the atrophic alveolar ridge.