Alveolar bone augmentation following the local administration of prostaglandin E1 by controlled-release pellets.

E-Series prostaglandins (PGE) are powerful osteogenic substances when given in vivo. The purpose of this work was to determine the ability of locally administered PGE1 to promote alveolar bone formation. Controlled-release pellets containing PGE1 were implanted on the lateral mandibular surface of Beagle dogs and tissues collected 4 weeks later. There was a dose-related increase in alveolar bone thickness and bone formation rates following PGE1 administration. In many cases, there was substantial new bone formation on the alveolar crest. Some increase in alveolar bone remodeling occurred with higher doses of PGE1. These results demonstrate that locally administered PGE1 may be useful for the augmentation of alveolar bone.