Reconstruction of bone defects and maintaining the continuity of the mandible is still a challenge in the maxillofacial surgery. Nowadays, the biomedical research within bone defect treatment is focussed on the therapy of using innovative biomaterials with specific characteristics consisting of the body's own substances. Hydroxyapatite ceramic scaffolds have fully acceptable phase compositions, microstructures and compressive strengths for their use in regenerative medicine. The innovative hydroxyapatite ceramics used by us were prepared using the tape-casting method, which allows variation in the shape of samples after packing hydroxyapatite paste to 3D-printed plastic form. The purpose of our qualitative study was to evaluate the regenerative potential of the innovative ceramic biomaterial prepared using this method in the therapy of the cortical bone of the lower jaw in four mature pigs. The mandible bone defects were evaluated after different periods of time (after 3, 4, 5 and 6 months) and compared with the control sample (healthy cortical bone from the opposite side of the mandible). The results of the morphological, clinical and radiological investigation and hardness examination confirmed the positive regenerative potential of ceramic implants after treatment of the mandible bone defects in the porcine mandible model.
Keywords: biomaterial; bone defect; ceramic implants; lower jaw; mandible; pig; regeneration.