ABSTRACT
Bone grafting and joint replacement are important areas in orthopedic research because of the necessity for both methods in treating animal and human orthopedic problems [1]. A recent review of bioactive ceramics reported that 1,230,000 fractures were treated with osteosynthesis materials in the United States in 1988. The basic philosophy in that chapter was to address the effect of synthetic graft materials on bone tissue formation and bone cell function, not on the problems of bone replacement on guided bone regeneration where function is maintained to provide clinical success. This philosophy in the materials community has encouraged the use of resorbable materials and the study of particulate materials in cancellous bone, and resulted in the identification of bulk or particulate calcium phosphates ceramics and glasses as bioconductive, not bioinductive [2-4]. Only recently have some materials scientists realized that osteoinductive performance is possible [5-7], although a few have reported such behavior earlier [8,9]. Most materials evaluations, however, continue the basic philosophy to the present [10,11].
