Wound Healing and Membranes for Bone Regeneration

Dear Colleagues,

Lack of adequate alveolar bone volume may prevail due to various reasons such as systemic conditions, as well as post-traumatic or post-extraction defects. Augmenting the residual bone for rehabilitation of an edentulous area is a challenging area of clinical practice and, hence, the subject of intense research. The long-term success of dental implants requires adequate bone volume and architecture, and this can be achieved by different surgical techniques either at the time of implant placement or as a preparatory event. Both clinicians and basic scientists have been exploring a wide array of augmentation procedures that will enable the enlargement of bone volume for socket preservation, vertical and horizontal ridge augmentation, and sinus lift.

Different clinical approaches have been described to enlarge alveolar bone volume, including:

1. Osteoinduction (using bone growth factors);
2. Osteoconduction (using grafting materials);
3. Guided bone regeneration (GBR) (using tissue barriers or membranes made of resorbable or non-resorbable materials with or without additional grafts);
4. Cell transplantation (using various cells capable of becoming osteoblasts); and
5. Gene therapy (using locally administered genetic materials that will induce osteoblastic differentiation).

In practice, most clinical scenarios utilize combinations of these approaches, namely grafts loaded with cells or genetically engineered cells, grafts loaded with growth factors, etc., and most of these protocols apply GBR principles. As a result, barrier membranes are widely used in bone regeneration procedures.

Regardless of the exact GBR protocol used, there are two critical components that bear major significance for a successful and predictable treatment:

1. Proper and sustained wound healing that protects the augmented site from the harsh oral environment and from infection, while preserving the esthetics and functionality of the site; and
2. Membrane longevity and biocompatibility, protecting the defect from invasion of unwanted cells and dissipation of implanted cells or biologics for a long-enough period to induce sufficient new bone formation.

However, different situations and systemic conditions may jeopardize the success of these GBR techniques, by either interfering with adequate wound healing or by reducing membrane integrity and longevity, thus interfering with its functionality. These situations may require the incorporation into GBR protocols of various techniques, molecules, or devices to overcome these detrimental conditions.

The aim of this Special Issue of Materials, entitled “ Wound Healing and Membranes for Bone Regeneration”, is to provide a stage for researchers and clinicians to submit their latest studies dealing with the interplay between barrier membranes, wound healing, systemic diseases, animal augmentation models, and molecular background involved in the success or failure of augmentation procedures and with any type of intervention that will protect the treatment from the adverse influence of these factors and promote the success and predictability of the surgical procedure. Original studies or reviews from a variety of dental disciplines including periodontology, dental implantology, oral and maxillo-facial surgery/reconstruction, cell biology, and material sciences are warmly welcome.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Ofer Moses
Prof. Dr. Miron Weinreb
Guest Editors

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• bone regeneration
• wound healing
• collagen membrane
• animal model
• sinus augmentation
• periodontal regeneration