Purpose: To determine the bone regeneration potential of a ceramic biomaterial coated with fibronectin and adipose-derived stem cells covered in three-wall critical-size defects associated with dental implants.
Materials and methods: In a total of 18 dogs, four dehiscence-type and critical-size defects were created surgically in the edentulous alveolar ridge with the simultaneous placement of dental implants. Defects were randomly regenerated using biomaterials coated with particulate ß-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP), β-TCP with fibronectin (Fn) (β-TCP-Fn), and β-TCP with a combination of Fn and autologous adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) (β-TCP-Fn-ADSCs), leaving one defect as the control. The animals were divided into three groups according to the time of euthanasia (1, 2, or 3 months).
Results: Statistically significant differences between the three study groups (β-TCP, β-TCP-Fn, β-TCP-Fn-ADSCs) and the control group in the total area of bone regeneration and mineralized and nonmineralized tissue at 1, 2, and 3 months of healing were not observed. At 2 months, defects treated with β-TCP-Fn-ADSCs showed a significant decrease in the percentage of bone-to-implant contact (BIC) as compared with the β-TCP-Fn (P = .041) and control (P = .012) groups. At 3 months of healing, however, significant differences in BIC between the three study groups and controls were not found (P = .388).
Conclusion: The use of ADSCs in the bone regeneration processes of dehiscencetype defects associated with simultaneous implant insertion does not seem to improve the area of bone regeneration or the percentage of BIC compared with other biomaterials or the control alveolar defect.