Researchers in Rice's J.W. Cox Laboratory for Biomedical Engineering will conduct the research under a new five-year, $1.4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.

More than 10 million Americans undergo surgical tooth extractions every year, and the procedure invariably involves some loss of bone from the tooth socket. This bone loss is problematic for dentists because it can compromise both the functional and esthetic outcomes of treatment involving dentures and bridges. Significant losses of bone also make it difficult for surgeons to properly fit dental implants to the ridge of the jawbone without requiring additional surgical procedures.

The body's natural powers to regenerate bone are also hindered by the soft tissue of the surrounding gums, and in severe cases following trauma or cancer surgery, wide gaps called "critical-size defects" are created in the jawbone that the body is unable to bridge with replacement bone. To overcome these problems, oral surgeons may graft new bone into the gap. However, this bone must be either harvested from deceased donors, animal sources, or taken from elsewhere in the patient's body.

"Our goal is to induce the formation of bone tissue in critical-size bone defects by the implantation of a biologically active, biodegradable polymer scaffold," said the principal investigator of the project Antonios Mikos, the John W. Cox Professor of Bioengineering and director of Rice's Center for Excellence in Tissue Engineering.

In previous work on rabbits, Mikos' research group has isolated the growth factors that are released by the body in order to stimulate bone growth in the tooth socket after a tooth extraction. Their new research initiative will use this information to de
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Contact: Jade Boyd
jadeboyd@rice.edu
713-348-6778
Rice University
28-Apr-2004