Physicochemical properties of various barrier membranes

Background

Guided Bone Regeneration (GBR) techniques are nowadays essential procedures in implant dentistry where barrier membranes are crucial to avoid soft tissue ingrowth. Not all membranes behave in the same way, as they differ in origin and structure. It is therefore important to understand membranes behavior and properties in order to select the needed biomaterial for each possible situation.

Aim/Hypothesis

To date no study has evaluated and compared physico-chemical properties of various families of barrier membranes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the physico-chemical properties of various barrier membranes.

Material and Methods

Five different origin membranes were tested for this study. Porcine Peritoneum (BioGide, (Geistlich Pharma AG, Wolhusen, Switzerland)), Bovine Cross-linked Collagen (Cytoplast RTX, (Osteogenics Biomedical, Lubbock, TX, USA), Porcine Cross-linked Collagen (Ossix Plus, (Datum Dental, Israel)), Bovine Collagen (Implosorb, (Bioimplon GmbH, Gieflen)), Bovine Collagen + Hyaluronic Acid (Imploflex, (Bioimplon GmbH, Gieflen)) and Polycaprolactone (Osteoguide, (Genoss, Korea)). All membranes were tested in terms of tension, stiffness, absorption ability, pH and wettability. All data were translated into radial graphics showing the differences and strongest and lowest potential for each membrane. A physico-chemical index was then calculated.

Results

All membranes showed similar low tension and little stiffness. Porcine origin membranes had greater wettability and hydration, whereas bovine origin barrier membranes had a lower hydration and wettability, especially if mixed with hyaluronic acid. Synthetic membranes had a very stable pH and were very little stiff, which can be of importance in some GBR techniques.

Conclusion and Clinical Implications

The wide variety of barrier membranes opens a debate in which the practitioner should select the ideal barrier membrane for each clinical situation. Different materials show singular potentials depending on their tissue origin. More studies regarding adsorption, integration and degradation of barrier membranes are needed in order to understand their behavior.