Bone regeneration property of tooth-derived bone substitute prepared chairside for periodontal bone defects: an experimental study

BACKGROUND: Periodontitis often leads to progressive destruction and loss of alveolar bone, the reconstruction of which remains difficult in periodontal therapy. As a novel bone graft material, tooth-derived bone substitute (TDBS) processed from extracted teeth has been previously reported about its osteoconductivity and promising results in bone regeneration. This study was to investigate the biological effects and bone regeneration properties of TDBS in vitro and in vivo using rat periodontal bone defect model. METHODS: Three groups of materials were used in the experiments: TDBS, TDBS treated with ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) (TDBS-E), and allogeneic bone materials. Calcium (Ca) and phosphate (P) ion dissolutions were quantified by spectrophotometer for seven days. The releases of bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) and transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) were identified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Human osteoblast proliferation, migration, and differentiation were detected by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, cell counting, alkaline phosphatase activity (ALP), and alizarin red staining (ARS), respectively. Furthermore, the osteogenic effects of TDBS on periodontal furcation bone defects were evaluated at eight weeks postoperatively using micro-computed tomography (Micro-CT) and histological analysis. RESULTS: The dissolution of both Ca and P ions in TDBS increased over time. The BMP-2 released from TDBS was significantly higher than that from TDBS-E and allografts, while the TGF-β1 release from TDBS and TDBS-E groups was higher than that in the allografts. The TDBS-E group could induce the highest level of osteoblast proliferation compared to other groups. Cell migration with allografts co-culture was significantly induced compared to the blank control. However, all groups demonstrated similar positive effects on osteoblast differentiation. Furthermore, in the periodontal model, all materials could effectively enhance bone regeneration in the furcation defect. CONCLUSIONS: The TDBS prepared chairside as an autogenous bone graft, demonstrating osteoinductivity, which enhances the osteogenic biological characteristics. Therefore, TDBS is suggested as an economical and biocompatible material for periodontal bone regeneration. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12903-023-03582-y.