The aims of this study were (1) to determine at the crystal level, the nonspecific biological fate of different types of calcium phosphate (Ca-P) ceramics after implantation in various sites (osseous and nonosseous) in animals and (2) to investigate the crystallographic association of newly formed apatitic crystals with the Ca-P ceramics. Noncommercial Ca-P ceramics identified by X-ray diffraction as calcium hydroxylapatite (HA), beta-tricalcium phosphate (beta-TCP), and biphasic calcium phosphates (BCP) (consisting of beta-TCP/HA = 40/60) were implanted under the skin in connective tissue, in femoral lamellar cortical bone, articular spine bone, and cortical mandibular and mastoidal bones of animals (mice, rabbits, beagle dogs) for 3 weeks to 11 months. In humans, HA or beta-TCP granules were used to fill periodontal pockets, and biopsies of the implanted materials were recovered after 2 and 12 months.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

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Pellets of well-characterized microporous hydroxyapatite (HA) ceramic were implanted in hamsters in two nonosseous sites: (1) in the fatty tissue of the gingival crease, far from bony tissue and (2) in intraperitoneal sites. The implants in site 1 were placed directly in contact with tissues, cells, and extracellular fluids while the implants in site 2 were placed in special chambers made of plexiglass cylinders covered in both ends with millipore filters, preventing contact with tissues and cells, but not with extracellular fluids. The hamsters were sacrificed and the implants recovered after 8, 16, 30, 150, and 365 days. The pellets were characterized using x-ray diffraction, infrared absorption, thermogravimetry, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, and calcium and phosphate analyses before and after implantation. Physicochemical analyses of HA ceramic implants before and after implantation demonstrated the formation of new material which was significantly different from the HA ceramic in terms of the following: (a) morphology (size of shape) of crystals; (b) intimate association of the inorganic phase of the new material with an organic phase similar to inorganic/organic association in bone; (c) the inorganic phase of the new material is a CO3-apatite, similar to that of bone, while the HA in ceramic is CO3-free; (d) electron diffraction of apatite of new material is similar to that of bone apatite. This study also demonstrated that the new material associated with the HA ceramics implanted in two different nonosseous sites were identical in spite of the differences in their microenvironment (cellular and acellular).

This paper reports results on the sintering behaviour of hydroxyapatite (HAP) for various compositions and its resultant flexural strength. The HAP decomposition occurs at higher temperatures for sintered compacts than for powder and their OH stoichiometry depends on the porosity-closing temperature. The mechanical behaviour of HAP depends on its composition: the best results are obtained for HAP containing tricalcium phosphate (TCP), whereas for nearly pure HAP the flexural strength decreases to the lowest results corresponding to HAP containing CaO. It is suggested that the strengthening of HAP by TCP involves surface compression due to the p + CI TCP transformation.