Factors for osseous repair and delivery. Part I.

The healing fracture, autograft, and allograft repair are associated with a panoply of unique biochemical and cellular processes. Temporal harmony between the components of these processes can ensure restoration of form and function to bony deficiencies incurred as a consequence of developmental deformity, traumatic incident, or surgical resection. Part I of this editorial describes the chronobiology of the stages of several types of naturally occurring bone repair materials and the interaction of the component cells and their biochemical products. The emphasis is on growth and inductive factors, which are keys to promoting bone regeneration.