Thesis summary
Trauma and disease may lead to structural changes of the skeleton. Bone tissue has remarkable capacity for self-repair but under certain conditions this is not sufficient to prevent patients’ quality of life from being adversely affected.
In such clinical challenges bone replacement grafts have been employed to assist the bone healing by providing a scaffold for growth of cells and bone tissue. This thesis investigated the use of synthetic titanium-based bone graft materials and the effect of surface coatings on the osteogenic response.
In an in vivo model, porous titania scaffolds were used to assist bone healing in dental implant dehiscence-type defects. The results were promising but also pointed to new challenges to resolve; soft tissue invasion from surrounding tissues.
The outcome of implant placement in bone grafted with differently coated titanium-based bone graft materials was also analysed. An in vivo model demonstrated this was procurable, however osseous defects apical of several implants were a concern. These observations may have been related to the research model, nonetheless more research in this area is warranted.
The osteogenic response of osteoblasts cultured in titania scaffolds was not improved by the use of different coating agents. The in vitro study demonstrated that differentiation of osteoblasts was enhanced on titania as compared to silica and calcium phosphate coatings.
In the final study, an in vitro model was employed to analyze whether an enamel matrix protein-enriched alginate hydrogel coating on the titania scaffold could assist osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells. No such effect was observed, but an enhanced differentiation of osteoblasts suggested this application may have potential for delivery of proteins.
In conclusion, the findings did not support an improved osteogenic response of the tested titanium-based bone graft material coatings. Only a few modifications were indeed tested, and the titanium-based bone graft materials may have a potential for certain clinical applications. More research is however warranted prior to clinical use.
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Evaluation committee
- Professor Pierre Layrolle, University of Nantes, France
- Professor Mariano Sanz, University Complutense Madrid, Spain
- Associate Professor Bente Brokstad Herlofson, University of Oslo, Norway
Supervisors
- Professor S. Petter Lyngstadaas
- Professor Janne E. Reseland
- Professor Håvard J. Haugen
- Postdoc Fellow J. Caspar Wohlfahrt