Types of Bone Grafts
Autogenous Bone Grafts
Autogenous bone grafts, also known as autografts, are made from your own bone. They’re generally taken from somewhere else in the body, such as the chin, jaw, lower leg, hip, or skull. Autogenous bone grafts are advantageous because the graft material is your own live bone, containing living cellular elements that enhance bone growth. This also eliminates the risk of your body rejecting the graft material.
However, the downside is that a second procedure is required to harvest the bone from elsewhere in the body, which may not be recommended depending on your condition.
Allogenic Bone
Allogenic bone, or allograft, is dead bone harvested from a cadaver and processed using a freeze-dry method. Unlike autogenous bone, allogenic bone cannot produce new bone on its own. Instead, it serves as a framework, or scaffold, over which bone from the surrounding area can grow to fill the defect or void.
Xenogenic Bone
Xenogenic bone is derived from the non-living bone of another species, usually a cow. The bone is processed at very high temperatures to avoid the potential for immune rejection and contamination. Like allogenic grafts, xenogenic grafts serve as a framework for bone from the surrounding area to grow and fill the void.
Both allogenic and xenogenic bone grafting have the advantage of not requiring a second procedure to harvest your own bone, as with autografts. However, because these options lack the bone-forming properties of autografts, bone regeneration may take longer and have a less predictable outcome.
