Study of Bone Repair in Rat Dental Socket after Implantation of Porous Granules of Beta-Tricalcium Phosphate (β-TCP) and Magnesium-Substituted Beta-Tricalcium Phosphate (β-TCMP)

Porous granules were obtained through a route using a mixture of calcium phosphate powder with sodium alginate solution. The sintered β-TCP and β-TCMP granules with diameters ranging from 250 µm to 500 µm were implanted into dental alveoli of 30 rats (Rattus norvegicus). The animals were divided in three groups: group I (control, no treatment), group II (β-TCP) and group III (β-TCMP); the sacrifices occurred at 7 and 21 days (n=5/group/period). Histological and histomorphometric analysis were performed to observe and measure connective tissue, bone neoformation and biomaterial areas. Most animals showed acute inflammatory response with many neutrophil granulocytes and foreign body giant multinucleated cells associated to both biomaterials, at 7 and 21 days. The utilization of sodium alginate as additive in the porous granules might explain these results. Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) pointed out residue in the granules surface that could exacerbate the inflammatory response. Additional studies are in course to confirm such hypothesis.