Tissue response to a haemostatic alginate wound dressing in tooth extraction sockets.

Kaltostat is a new haemostatic wound dressing composed of non-woven sodium calcium alginate fibres, and was originally developed to cover exposed wounds of the skin. A histopathological study was undertaken to determine the tissue response to Kaltostat in healing tooth sockets, to obtain a comparison with oxidised regenerated cellulose (Surgicel). Tooth sockets filled with blood clot acted as controls. The results showed that both biomaterials delayed wound healing in the early phase (1-4 weeks), giving rise to foreign body reactions. At 12 weeks there was little difference between the control sockets and the sockets containing the test materials, although remnants of retained dressing materials were identified. Healing of the tooth sockets was complete at 24 weeks.