Bone bonding ability of bioactive bone cements.

The bone bonding ability of three types of bioactive bone cement A, B, and C consisting of glass or glass ceramic powder and bisphenol-alpha-glycidyl methacrylate resin was evaluated. Type A contained MgO-CaO-SiO2-P2O5-CaF2 glass powder; Type B, MgO-CaO-SiO2-P2O5-CaF2 glass ceramic powder; and Type C, MgO free CaO-SiO2-P2O5-CaF2 glass powder. Rectangular plates (2 x 10 x 15 mm) of Types A, B, C, and polymethylmethacrylate cements were implanted into the tibial metaphyses of male rabbits and the failure load measured by mechanical failure testing (detaching test) 10 and 25 weeks after implantation. The failure loads of Types A, B, C, and polymethylmethacrylate cements were respectively, 29.52, 41.48, 28.22, and 0.29 N at 10 weeks and 33.42, 41.27, 33.64, and 0.20 N at 25 weeks. Examination of the bone cement interface revealed that all the bioactive bone cements achieved direct bone contact with the bone. These results showed that all three types of bioactive bone cement have the ability to bond to bone, and the cement containing glass ceramic powder revealed higher bonding strength than did those containing glass powder.