Indeed, why are, then, bone substitutes and regeneration materials necessary?

Why is natural healing not working here in an adequate manner?

Because on the one hand nature reacts often in an obstinate and unpredictable manner. On the other hand to make this procedure much simpler and less traumatic for the patient. This also will guarantee a much more secure and lasting result.
When for one reason or another (removal of a cyst) a large bone defects occures, one has the choice out of two options: one leaves it be and hopes for spontaneous healing, or one fills this defect with a bone filling material. In the first option, the operated bone is weakened for a relative long time period and the healing process is continuously exposed to micro-bacterial influences of the mouth.
In the second option one has the choice out of autogenous- or allogenous material.

As an autogenous material, or body own, usually bone from the hip, the chin or the cortical plate of the skull is taken. With this, one achieves only two things:

• The problem becomes displaced (now also the hip must heal spontaneously), and
• The operation becomes a twice as much severe procedure for the patient.

And even then there is this inevitable consequence: this bone graft will resorb in the same manner as the original bone. Nothing is there to keep newly formed bone in its place.
Conclusion of this is that the actual problem, bone resorbtion, is just post-phoned for a while.

Due to a great percentage of infections and rejections, not one method was giving satisfying results in the beginning period of bone substitutes. In addition not one material gave post-operative strength to this weakened bone.
This is the mean reason why a lot of practitioners do nothing in regard to bone preservation and they hold all there hopes for a spontaneous natural recovery.
Pity full enough this hope is in the majority of cases in vain: after a year, 4 out of 10 patients show recidives and/or permanent injury after apicoectomy. This means a new operation with again the chance of the same percentage of failure….


Slow but surely the need of a material arose that could win back, with results, the trust of the practitioners. At the same time it had to be affordable for the patient.
Such material had to comply as much as possible to the following:

Characteristics of an ideal bone substitute:

Eventually, after a lot of research and attempts to meet as close as possible the above requirements, a solution was found. The answer was to be found with the alloplasts. This name stands for a group of materials that are manufactured out of 100% synthetic substances. One group of substances are polymers. They already proved themselves in a variety of different medical applications. They perform their daily task faultless with million of patients worldwide.
To read more about this revolutionary development go to:
HTR Product-information pages