INTRODUCTION: Reconstruction of bony defects represents a challenging problem for the surgical community. ozone therapy seems to be a promising future in different dental modalities that may be effective in treating bony defects.
OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to assess the effect of topical ozone gel application on bone regeneration following enucleation of maxillary cysts.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: After surgical enucleation of odontogenic maxillary cystic lesions in sixteen patients, eight bony defects were grafted with ozone gel; the second group served as controls. Computed multi-slice CT scans were obtained immediately after surgery, 6- and 9-months post-surgery to assess the decrease in bone defect size and density of newly formed bone.
RESULTS: The study group showed significant increase in bone density of newly formed bone at 6& 9 months postsurgical (p= 0.039, 0.042) and significant decrease in bone defect size as it recorded a mean percentage of residual area of bone defect in axial cuts 39.46± 9.17, 22.52 ± 7.02 while control group recorded a mean of 64.08 ± 9.88, 49.74 ± 10.96 at 6& 9months respectively.
CONCLUSIONS: Ozone gel can be considered a healing biomaterial, as it features all the necessary parameters permitting bone regeneration without any adverse reaction. It gives a predictable clinical and radiographic evidence of bone formation and faster healing than control group.
Keywords: bone regeneration, maxillary cyst, ozone.