Alloplastic bone grafts in maxillofacial surgery – An overview

Bone grafting techniques have been used by medical practitioners for over a century. A few factors that influence how successfully a grafted material is assimilated are its mechanical strength, pore size, ability to stimulate bone growth, and type of the graft. The four properties that the bone transplant material should possess are osteogenesis, osteoinduction, osteoconduction, and osteointegration. Despite being the only material with all four qualities, autologous bone has limited applications because of morbidities at the donor site. Allogeneic bone, which is taken from a different person and is commonly processed by tissue banks, is an alternative to autogenous bone. It carries a danger of spreading illness and being antigenic. Over the past few decades, the development of synthetic bone substitutes has opened up a wide range of options and opportunities to solve these limitations. In bone grafting procedures, synthetic bone replacements and biological components are quickly taking the place of natural grafts. Considerations include the patient's characteristics, the location, the extent of the lesion, and the cost and availability of the graft materials. This review has covered a variety of commonly used alloplastic materials.