The Effect of Different Surgical Instruments for Bone Regeneration under the Surgery of Bone Defect on Rat Calvaria

Abstract

In this study, we compared the healing process of bone defects treated with a trephine bur with those treated with an ultrasonic knife using a critical-sized bone defect model on rat calvaria. Nine-millimeter critical-size bone defects were prepared using both instruments in the calvaria of adult Sprague-Dawley rats. One and four weeks after the osteotomy, we performed a histomorphometric analysis to evaluate bone regeneration around the cutting surface. Quantitative micro-computed tomography analyses of the bone volume in both groups suggested that ultrasonic knife surgery resulted in superior bone formation compared to that in trephine bur surgery. Furthermore, at the cutting surface, the ultrasonic knife treatment retained the alkaline phosphatase activity and new bone formation, which was identified using calcein staining, even one week after surgery. Considering the speed and volume of bone regeneration, the ultrasonic knife is likely to be the preferred over the trephine bur to perform osteotomies in implant surgery.