implants - international magazine of oral implantology International Edition

I industry report Fig. 1_Only a cavitation that has formed with additional calcification around a well-defined border will be visualized on X-ray. Observe the incapsulated extranous body. Fig. 2_An explored channel might be counted as only one cavitation when it actually developed from more than one unhealed extraction site. Larger cavitations can extend below the mandibular nerve. Figs. 3a & b_15 mm mesio-distal and 10 mm vertical bone cavitation filled with ␤-TCP graft. The distal hole was a third of dimension and a Short Implant (Bicon) could be placed immediately. Jawbone cavitation and its implication in implant dentistry Author_Prof. Dr Mauro Marincola, Italy 20 I implants1_2014 _Introduction Acavityisaholeinatooth,whereasacavitationisa hole in bone. Unlike most tooth cavities, bone cavita- tionscannotbedetectedbysimplylookingatthebone, rather they must be determined radiographically and the interpretation thereof requires an expert eye, con- sequentlymanycavitationsaremissed. In the last several years, the term “cavitation” has been used to describe various bone lesions that appear both as empty holes in the jawbones and holes filled with dead bone and fibrous marrow. The term “cavita- tion”wascreatedin1930byanorthopaedicresearcher whodescribedadiseaseprocessinwhichadeficiencyin bloodflowintothearearesultedinaholeinthejawbone andotherbones.DrG.V.Blackdescribedthiscavitation processin1915asaprogressiveprocessinthejawbone inwhichbonecellsaredestroyed,generatinglargecav- itationareaswithinthejawbones.1 Blackfounditstrik- ing that this disease produces vast jawbone damage withoutrednessinthegingiva,pain,swellingofthejaw, or a rise in body temperature. In effect, this disease processisproducessmallblockagesorinfarctionsofthe smallbloodvesselsinthejawbones,leadingtoareasof deadboneorosteonecrosis.Thesedeadareasaretoday called neuralgia-inducing cavitational osteonecrosis lesions. TheresultsofrecentresearchbyDrBoydHaley,for- mer Chairman of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Kentucky, show that the cavitation tissue Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Fig. 3a Fig. 3b