Calcium sulfate as a mandibular implant.

Mandibular reconstruction has posed significant problems, particularly when dealing with loss of mandibular substance. Various implant substances have been utilized in attempts to repair mandibular defects. These have included metals, synthetic material, and organic substances. All have posed significant problems, particularly with rejection and inability of the implant to develop a stable fusion with the surrounding bone. Recently, calcium sulfate has been successfully used as an implant in frontal sinuses, mastoid cavities, and, in one report, as a mandibular implant. The present study looks at the ability of calcium sulfate to induce osteoneogenesis in canine mandibles with and without the presence of a periosteal covering around the implant. Infection somewhat limited the success of the study, but in those animals without major infections, successful replacement of the calcium sulfate by normal bone occurred both with and without the presence of periosteum.