Composite jaw and iliac cancellous bone grafts in intrabony defects in monkeys

Thirty‐six two‐wall periodontal intrabony defects were produced adjacent to incisors and canines in 12 monkeys. Following a reverse bevel incision mucoperiostal flaps were raised on the buccal and lingual aspect of the defects. After removal of all soft tissue, fresh iliac bone marrow grafts were transplanted into eighteen of the defects. The remaining eighteen defects on contralateral teeth, were treated in the same way except that cancellous bone grafts from an edentulous area of the maxillary jaw were placed against the root surface prior to the transplantation of iliac bone marrow. After transplantation the tissue flaps were repositioned and sutured. The animals were treated and sacrificed to yield observation periods from 3 to 24 weeks. After decalcification and embedding in paraffin, serial sections were cut at 8 microns and stained with hematoxylin and eosin. Ankylosis and active resorption of the root surface was found in the majority of the defects grafted with fresh iliac bone marrow. In defects treated with the composite grafts ankylosis and root resorption occured with considerably less frequency. These results suggest that ankylosis and root resorption can be minimized if iliac bone marrow grafts are effectively separated from the root surface.