Repairing Cleft Palate Defect by Implementing OSSIX BONE Scaffold in a Rabbit Model

Objectives: Cleft lip and palate are inborn defects that occur as a result of the malunion of the facial prosses during the fetal period. These defects lead to functional problems including nutrition, speech formation, and occlusion. One of the crucial steps of the treatment protocol is a bone grafting procedure.
OSSIX bone (OB, Datum Dental, Lod Israel) is a resorbable sponge-like scaffold matrix made of hydroxyapatite and collagen cross-linked by sugar. It was developed by tissue engineering techniques to regenerate new bone that is integrated into bony margins of large alveolar defects. The aim of this work is to present the implementation of OB - in repairing cleft palate defects in a rabbit model.
Methods: A Critical-size alveolar cleft defect model was surgically created in 6 rabbits. Two of the rabbits had an empty alveolar cleft defect (negative Control), 4 rabbits had an OB grafted into the defect. After 3 months the rabbits were sacrificed, and micro CT scans and a histological analysis were performed.
Results: : Bone volume fraction (BV/TV) was characterized using µCT assessment. This resulted in the amount of bone gained in the OB grafted defect compared to the control. New bone formation was further correlated with histological analysis and revealed integration between the original bony margin defect and the newly OB regenerated bone. The new bone generated area histologically demonstrated a new bone matrix and osteocytes in lacunae.
Conclusions: our results suggest that a surgical alveolar bone cleft model defect can be successfully treated by means of bone generation using OB.
.OB may serve as a potential biomedical platform for bone tissue regeneration integrated into large alveolar bone defect margins