How Do I Choose the Right Bone Graft Material?

Definately a question that needs much more room to explain than is offered here. I would highly recommend taking a basic bone grafting course. Without a fundamental knowlege of grafting material options, you will not be able to cut through the hype/sales pitch of each of the companies.

if i may be so bold. the perio institute actually has a 2 day course that discusses in detail this very subject. the bad news is i have been doing this course for the perio institute for the past year, so you are stuck listening to me! :) we are actually working on our 2010 cities and dates today. not sure where you are located anon, but we will be in atlanta and denver this fall, and baltimore, montreal, nashville, vancouver, calgary, and seattle tentatively in 2010. check the website for accurate details. gary l. henkel dds magd

there are many bone grafts equally standardized and good for any surgery type. if you want to read more about but sintetically, you can clik on google on the word "shepore". It's a graft that i ideated and created in 1994, patented in 1996 but never saled nor in Italy or in USA by a limited group of collegues.

I rec Arun Garg's textbook "Bone- Biology, Harvesting, Grafting, for dental implants rationale and clinical applications" Quintessence 2004? He may have a newer one but it is really good. Read it cover to cover but on pages 49 to 52 he has some tables that show all products and comparison as to cost, resorption time, quality of bone formation, indications/contraindications.I don't remember what it cost but it is well worth it for your learning curve.

The "fundamental knowledge" mentioned above is the key. I recommend the Bone Grafting and GTR Course by the Perio Institute. They are affiliated with the AGD and give a good general course.

There are three options. Allograft (human), Xenograft (cow), Alloplast (synthetic). Here are excellent options for each category. Puros bone graft (allograft\human), BioOss bone graft (Xenograft\cow), Cerasorb-M (synthetic\b-tcp). I mostly use allograft and synthetic. Most of my patients prefer a synthetic but I tend to mix them for better results.

There are Allograft, Xenograft, and Alloplast, but we should not forget the gold standard autogenous (the patient's own bone). Remember that the patient has many areas that are there as a bone bank for you to take from that has the best source of BMPs. There is no one perfect bone graft material. But there are certain types of combinations and/or techniques that work better then others. Many of the materials mentioned above will work for a regular extraction socket, but when we get into sinus grafting and building height and width, there are many different techniques and materials that people will use. The best way to know what to use and where, is to take an extensive bone grafting course, and not necessarily one, as what one says may not necessarily say what the other does.

I have found DFDBA puttys to work the best. This recent article, (cut and paste into your address bar) Article Here shows 2 cases that Regenform Putty was used as an alternative to block grafts. I have used this product for 10 years with incredible results.

Arun K. Garg, DMD has good detailed suggestions in his book : Bone Biology. Harvesting, and Grafting for Dental Implants.