Bone grafting materials for dental applications: a practical guide.

A variety of grafting materials are available for use in dental applications. Autogenous bone is the material of choice because of its osteogenic properties, which allow bone to form rapidly and under conditions where significant bone augmentation or repair is required. For other dental applications, allografts and alloplasts are appropriate. Knowing the physical and chemical properties of these materials and their mechanism of action, the correct graft or combination of grafts can be selected for each situation encountered. This article discusses current bone grafting options as reported in the literature since 1984. It emphasizes acquainting the reader with currently available materials and their properties.