A Porcine Model Using Adipose Stem Cell-Loaded Scaffolds for Alveolar Ridge Augmentation

Abstract

Tooth loss greatly affects a person's quality of life and many turn to dental implants to replace lost teeth. The success of a dental implant depends on the amount of alveolar bone supporting the implant, and thus, bone augmentation is often necessary to preserve or build up bone volume in the alveolar ridge. Bone can be augmented with autogenous bone, allografts, or xenografts, but the limitations of such natural bone grafts prompt researchers to develop synthetic scaffolds supplemented with cells and/or bioactive agents as alternative bone grafts. The translation of these combination scaffolds from the laboratory to the clinic requires reliable experimental models that can simulate the clinical conditions in human patients. In this article, we describe the use of a porcine alveolar defect model as a platform to evaluate the efficacy of a novel combination of a three-dimensional-printed polycaprolactone-tricalcium phosphate (PCL-TCP) scaffold and adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (AD-MSCs) in lateral alveolar augmentation. The surgical protocol for the defect creation and regenerative surgery, as well as analytical methods to determine the extent of tissue regeneration, are described and discussed.

Impact statement

There is a huge global demand for bone grafts and bone regeneration procedures due to increasing cases of bone damage, bone disease, and tooth loss. The availability of a customizable bone graft that avoids issues such as donor-site morbidity for autografts and risks of immunological reactions and disease transmission for allografts and xenografts would be highly desirable. To study the safety and efficacy of novel bone regeneration implants and procedures, a reliable animal model is needed. In this article, we describe the use of a porcine alveolar defect model as a clinically relevant model to evaluate the efficacy of a bone regeneration implant for alveolar augmentation. Our model is applicable to a variety of scaffolds and cell types and will support the translation of novel implants into clinical applications.