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Success of osteogenesis in bone graft procedures can be enhanced by inhibiting oral bacterial infections through the use of prophylactic bacteriostatic fluoride within the grafting environment. Ideally, the fluoride ion should be chemically sequestered and thus unavailable unless needed at times during the process of early infection. As fluoride within fluorapatite is tightly bound at neutral pH and becomes available only during acidic conditions, fluorapatite is an ideal store for the fluoride ion which becomes released for bacteriostasis only during an acidic environment found with incipient bacterial infection. The purpose of this investigation was to compare the histologic properties of new bone formed surrounding fluorapatite (FA)-coated microcrystalline hydroxyapatite (HA) grafting material with comparable bone formed following the use of control HA material (OsteoGen, Impladent, Ltd, Holliswood, NY). The results of histologic analysis within dog studies here showed no detectable difference in new bone following therapeutic grafting procedures using each of the above 2 mineral coatings.
Key Words: fluorapatite, hydroxyapatite, bacteriostatic, endodontic treatment, revision surgery, grafting
ABBREVIATIONS
FA: fluorapatite
HA: hydroxyapatite
NaF: sodium fluoride
INTRODUCTION
Infection, either immediately subsequent to placement of dental implants or following initial osseointegration, constitutes a significant problem for both the dentist and patient. The obvious consequence of bone loss in the immediate vicinity of the implant is a major threat to the success of the procedure. The author (W.N.) has tried a variety of therapeutic schemes over the years to mitigate such infections using decontamination procedures and grafting, but from an overall perspective, results have been less than satisfactory.
The literature is replete with investigations that support the fact that fluoride is efficacious in the prevention of dental caries.1-5 Further, fluoride is known to inhibit many other types of oral bacteria, including the Treponemas6 which are implicated, along with numerous bacterial species, in the pathogenesis of periodontal disease. It is clear that in order to promote an ideal microenvironment for the normal healing of bone during implant procedures and thus reduce the chance of superimposed infection, bacterial contamination must be held to a minimum. Therefore, if bacteriostatic fluoride ion could be made available directly to the sensitive osteogenesis microenvironment at the time when it is most vulnerable to incipient bacterial contamination, it is logical to expect that such...