Bone Cements

Abstract

The demand for bone substitute materials have grown significantly in the last decade. The increasing size of the elderly population and the number of road traffic accidents could be attributed to this rapid rise. Accidents and trauma may result in bone defects that exceed a critical-size, where surgical management is still considered a significant challenge worldwide.

When a defect heals only in the presence of bone graft material, it is considered critical-sized defect. A critical-sizeddefect is defined as the smallest size of a bone wound that does not heal spontaneously during the animal's lifetime. For example, critical-sized defects in a rat calvaria, mandible, and long bone are 8, 4, and 12 mm, respectively. At the same time, those in a rabbit are 15, 5, and 6 mm. In this type of defect, spontaneous healing does not lead to complete bony defect closure. While, on the other hand, formation of connective tissues is faster than the formation of new bone. Therefore, restoring such defects requires an intervening surgical procedure that usually involves bone substitute material