Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
materials have been investigated for GBR applications
[40-43]
. Among commercially available resorb-
able membranes, collagen membranes have been well documented to be effective in GBR procedures
[44]
. However, collagen membranes are not capable of maintaining adequate space
[40]
. Moreover, the
prefabricated membranes need to be customized chair-side. Therefore, the development of a membrane
that can be custom-made
in situ
and with better handling characteristics was considered.
PEG hydrogel was introduced in dentistry as a biodegradable membrane for GBR
[45-47]
, as
a carrier for osteoinductive biological cues like parathyroid hormone (PTH)
[48,49]
and bone mor-
phogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2)
[50]
. When applied as a GBR membrane in rabbits, PEG membranes
facilitated similar amount of bone regeneration compared to ePTFE membranes
[45]
. PEG hydrogel
has been evaluated in randomized controlled human clinical trials (
Figure 11.10
)
[46]
. The results of
the study concluded that the new PEG hydrogel membrane was as successful as a standard collagen
membrane in the treatment of bony dehiscence defects around dental implants with simplified clinical
handling.
11.7
CONCLUSIONS
The use of microfabrication technique to fabricate PEG hydrogel micropatterns has been outlined in
this chapter. Such microfabrication techniques could be developed in future for commercial applica-
tions in dental implants. There are a few nanostructured commercial dental implants available cur-
rently. The combined use of PEG hydrogel as a coating and carrier matrix for growth factors and
GBR membrane makes it a promising biomaterial in dental implantology.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Dr Ronald Jung, Associate Professor and Vice Chairman, Clinic
for Fixed and Removable Prosthodontics and Dental Material Science, Center for Dental and Oral
Medicine and Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgery, University of Zurich, Switzerland, for kindly providing
the clinical trial
[46]
pictures of PEG hydrogel membrane.
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