Histological and histomorphometric analysis
A qualitative evaluation of the bone tissue collected 6 months after implantation was performed by observation of toluidine blue–stained slides. Figure Toluidine blue–stained representative photomicrographs of the grafted site 6 months post-implantation: Remains of the bone substitute were found in both conditions, in higher amounts in the BL® group. There were no signs of hydrogel after 6 months. New bone was formed on the surfaces and within granules, interspersed with connective tissue. The amount of new bone is notoriously higher in the DEXGEL Bone group. As an important indicator of biocompatibility, no signs of adverse inflammatory reaction were evidenced in both groups. DEXGEL Bone seems to induce a faster new bone regeneration, less unfilled areas being noticed in the histological analysis.The collected bone sample was also analyzed quantitatively with respect to new bone formation, biomaterial remains, and connective tissue (Fig. Quantitative histomorphometric results of DEXGEL Bone and Bonelike by Biosckin® (BL®) conditions: total bone (