Biomaterials and facial bone reconstruction

Abstract

Bone loss in the jaws is associated with several causes, such as physiological resorption after tooth extraction, infections, cysts and tumors, trauma to the maxillofacial region, among others. This condition of decreased three-dimensional bone structure leads to severe resorption, which mainly hinders rehabilitation with dental implants. Despite the evolution of implants with treated surfaces and reduced length and diameter, bone grafting is necessary in most cases. Bone substitutes offer the advantage of an unlimited amount of bone and slow resorption, which allows the body to perform angiogenesis and cell migration for bone formation between the particles of the biomaterials; these substitutes act as osteoconductors, that is, they serve as a scaffold for osteogenic cells that migrate to the area to be reconstructed.