Tricalciumphosphate as an implant material: preliminary report

Abstract

The search for a suitable substitute to replace autogenous material in surgical transplantation is as old as the history of plastic surgery itself and reflects the surgeon’s unwillingness to subject a patient to an additional operation with a certain degree of mutilation and discomfort at the donor site. The list of materials tried and discarded is impressive and has included sawn-off lingers and parts of a tooth of a whale. Gutta percha, the newer acrylics, silicones, “Supramid” and Proplast are among the more recent materials highly commended at first and then losing favour because only a few of them could stand the test of time or fulfil the basic requirements of a surgical implant in man. These are that the material should be: non-toxic, non-carcinogenic, non-allergic, incapable of destroying the viability of the adjacent tissues, easily sterilised, easy to cut and shape, easy to handle, unable to impede the processes of tissue repair and lastly should have the capacity for incorporation or resorption. K. de Groot, an aqueous slurry of the powder is made. Pores can be introduced by adding a 10% solution of hydrogen peroxide. The slurry is then poured into plaster moulds to dry at 80°C. The dry blocks are then exposed to temperatures ranging from 100” to 1400°C. During this drying and sintering process the strength of the material increases to produce a hard block with a spongy appearance not unlike the cancellous bone of the iliac crest (Fig. 1).