Spontaneous bone healing of the large bone defects in the mandible.

Spontaneous healing of large bone defects in the mandibles of 33 patients was studied. Standard postoperative clinical and radiographic examinations were performed immediately after surgery and after 2, 6 and 12 months. They were analysed using a novel relative bone densitometry method and indexes of relative bone healing were established. Spontaneous bone regeneration occurred in all patients clinically, and the computer analysis of radiographs showed that the mean final bone density in the bone defects was 88% of the bone density of the surrounding healthy bone. In the cases of smaller defects (the greatest diameter on panoramic radiographs was 20-30 mm) the final bone density was 97%, while the larger defects finally healed with 84% of the bone density of the surrounding bone. Increased patient age had a negative influence on healing and the shape of the bone defects was more important for healing than their volume. Spontaneous bone healing occurred even in large bone defects in the mandible, therefore this simple treatment with low economic and biological costs should be the treatment of choice, taking into account the patient's age, surgical principles and time of rehabilitation.