Bioresorbable zinc hydroxyapatite guided bone regeneration membrane for bone regeneration

Objectives The aim of this study was to investigate the bone regenerative properties of a heat treated cross‐linked GBR membrane with zinc hydroxyapatite powders in the rat calvarial defect model over a 6‐week period. Material and Methods In vitro physio‐chemical characterization involved X‐ray diffraction analysis, surface topology by scanning electron microscopy, and zinc release studies in physiological buffers. Bilateral rat calvarial defects were used to compare the Zn‐HAp membranes against the commercially available collagen membranes and the unfilled defect group through radiological and histological evaluation. Results The synthesized Zn‐MEM (100 μm thick) showed no zinc ions released in the phosphate buffer solution (PBS) buffer, but zinc was observed under acidic conditions. At 6 weeks, both the micro‐CT and histological analyses revealed that the Zn‐MEM group yielded significantly greater bone formation with 80 ± 2% of bone filled, as compared with 60 ± 5% in the collagen membrane and 40 ± 2% in the unfilled control group. Conclusion This study demonstrated the use of heat treatment as an alternative method to cross‐linking the Zn‐MEM to be applied as a GBR membrane. Its synthesis and production are relatively simple to fabricate, and the membrane had rough surface features on one side, which might be beneficial for cellular activities. In a rat calvarial defect model, it was shown that new bone formation was accelerated in comparison with the collagen membrane and the unfilled defect groups. These results would suggest that Zn‐MEM has the potential for further development in dental applications.