Will Wood be the Bone Grafting Material of the New Decade?

Oral surgeons, periodontists, and implant dentists will love this one…

There’s a heard of sheep in Italy that have wooden bones…kind of. Italian scientists at the Istec Laboratory of Bioceramics in Faenza have developed a process of converting rattan (wood) into a material that appears to closely mimic natural bone tissue. Heat, carbon, and calcium, along with intense pressure and a phosphate solution, make the bone replacement material strong, yet porous enough for blood vessels and nerves to run through it.

As with traditional bone grafts, the grafted material is accepted by natural bone tissue, and the two unite into a solid, continuous structure. Scientists believe that the new bone replacement material may be used in human studies in about five years.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8446637.stm