Evaluation of Bone Regeneration on Polyhydroxyethyl-polymethyl Methacrylate Membrane in a Rabbit Calvarial Defect Model

This study was conducted to evaluate the capacity of guiding bone regeneration of polyhydroxyethyl-polymethyl methacrylate (PHEMA-PMMA) membrane as a guided tissue regeneration membrane for bone defects. Two 8-mm diameter transosseous round defects were made at the parietal bone of 18 New Zealand White rabbits. Defects were covered with or without PHEMA-PMMA membrane. Radiological and histological evaluation revealed that the bone tissue over the defect was more regenerated with time in both groups. However, there was significantly more bone regeneration at 8 weeks in the experimental group than the control group (p<0.05). There was no sign of membrane degradation or tissue inflammation and no invasion of muscle and fibrous tissue into defects. PHEMA-PMMA is a potential material for guided tissue regeneration membrane as it induces no adverse tissue reaction and effectively supports selective bone regeneration.