ABSTRACT
Bone graft substitutes and autograft extenders have been in clinical use since the late 1800s.1 Years of research and refinement, with amazing advances in material science and medicine, have produced a fundamental understanding of the material properties that contribute to the effectiveness of a bone graft substitute. Nonetheless, a synthetic bone graft material that is a true alternative to autologous bone, with an established clinical evidentiary base, remains elusive. That does not diminish the clinical need or commercial opportunity for products that are intended to augment or replace autologous bone.
