Clinical application of β-tricalcium phosphate artificial bone material for alveolar cleft repair

Objective To investigate the osteogenic effect of β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) and bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) in the repair of the alveolar cleft. Methods Fifty-nine patients with unilateral alveolar cleft who visited Capital Medical University School of Stomatology from January 2016 to May 2021 were included. They were divided into three groups according to the different bone repair materials: autologous bone, β-TCP and BMP-2 +β-TCP. The preoperative and postoperative CBCT data of the patients were imported into Mimics 21.0 software. The preoperative volume of the bone defect and the new volume of bone formation were calculated by the three-dimensional reconstruction method. The osteogenesis rate was calculated to evaluate the osteogenesis effect. Results The wounds in the three groups healed well after the operation, without implant material discharge, infection, dehiscence, rejection or other symptoms. Twelve months after the operation, CBCT scanning and three-dimensional reconstruction images of the three groups of patients showed the formation of new bone bridges in the alveolar ridge fissure area. The image density of the new bone tissue was not significantly different from that of normal bone tissue, and the continuity of the maxilla was restored to varying degrees. The bone rate of autogenous bone was 65.00% ± 16.66%, β- TCP group and BMP-2+ β- The bone composition rate of TCP was 69.82% ± 17.60%, 71.35% ± 17.51%, respectively, and there was no significant difference compared with the autogenous bone group (P = 0.382, P = 0.244). The β-TCP and BMP-2+ β-TCP groups had no significant differences in bone rate (P = 0.789). Conclusion β-TCP could be used to replace autologous bone for alveolar cleft repair. The addition of BMP-2 to β-TCP did not significantly improve the osteogenesis rate.