Study on regeneration of mandibular bone with bioabsorbable organic/inorganic composite membrane

Guided bone regeneration (GBR) has attracted much attention as a means to treat bone defects and congenital malformation. However, presently available materials are not ideal and further improvements are necessary. Hence we have been developing a novel bioabsorbable composite material beta-TCP/CPLA for the GBR technique. The polymeric matrix is a copolymer of poly-L-lactide acid and fatty polyester (CPLA) that is biodegradable by hydrolysis, and the ceramic filler is beta-tricalcium phosphate (beta-TCP) that is bioabsorbable and has good osteoconductivity. The materials were evaluated by in vivo and in vitro experiments. Furthermore, animal experiments with mandibular bones defects in dogs were carried out. Good bone regeneration was observed in the case of the treatment with beta-TCP/CPLA membrane whereas almost no bone regenerated in the cases without the membrane. beta-TCP/CPLA membranes were suggested to have promising properties for bone defect treatment.