Högskolan i Skövde

The use of MgO-paste as bone cement was tested on titanium cylinders implanted into rat tibia. The evaluation of bone healingwas made with the retention force (pull-out) test, light microscopy and ESEM/ EDX. Preimplantation of the MgO-paste into drillperforations of rat tibia increased the retention of the titanium implant 6-fold. The error was expressed as the 95% confidenceinterval of means (n=10 bones in each group). The observed difference between 3.46+/-0.71 N/mm2 for Ti-cylinders implantedwith MgO-paste and 0.56+/-0.26 N/mm2 for Ti-cylinders implanted directly into the bone, is statistically significant (p<0.01).The increase of retention force, caused by MgO is parallel to an increased thickness of the compact bone surrounding the implantand closer contact between bone and implant.Histological examination of the implant-related bone showed that the MgO-induced bone growth is mediated by the formation ofa bone-inducing matrix. The matrix contains organic substance, most likely proteins.