Open Access

Patrick Babczyk, Martin Winter, Claudia Kleinfeld, Andreas Pansky, Christina Oligschleger, Edda Tobiasch

• (1) Background: Autologous bone is supposed to contain vital cells that might improve the osseointegration of dental implants. The aim of this study was to investigate particulate and filtered bone chips collected during oral surgery intervention with respect to their osteogenic potential and the extent of microbial contamination to evaluate its usefulness for jawbone reconstruction prior to implant placement. (2) Methods: Cortical and cortical-cancellous bone chip samples of 84 patients were collected. The stem cell character of outgrowing cells was characterized by expression of CD73, CD90 and CD105, followed by osteogenic differentiation. The degree of bacterial contamination was determined by Gram staining, catalase and oxidase tests and tests to evaluate the genera of the found bacteria (3) Results: Pre-surgical antibiotic treatment of the patients significantly increased viability of the collected bone chip cells. No significant difference in plasticity was observed between cells isolated from the cortical and cortical-cancellous bone chip samples. Thus, both types of bone tissue can be used for jawbone reconstruction. The osteogenic differentiation was independent of the quantity and quality of the detected microorganisms, which comprise the most common bacteria in the oral cavity. (4) Discussion: This study shows that the quality of bone chip-derived stem cells is independent of the donor site and the extent of present common microorganisms, highlighting autologous bone tissue, assessable without additional surgical intervention for the patient, as a useful material for dental implantology.