RESEARCH ARTICLE
Microstructural Observation with MicroCT and Histological Analysis of Human Alveolar Bone Biopsy from a Planned Implant Site: A Case Report
Emi Yamashita-Mikami1, Mikako Tanaka 1, *, Naoki Sakurai 1, Kazuho Yamada 2, Hayato Ohshima 3, Shuichi Nomura 1, Sadakazu Ejiri 4
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2013Volume: 7
First Page: 47
Last Page: 54
Publisher ID: TODENTJ-7-47
DOI: 10.2174/1874210601307010047
Article History:
Received Date: 27/2/2013Revision Received Date: 8/3/2013
Acceptance Date: 11/3/2013
Electronic publication date: 17/5/2013
Collection year: 2013

open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.
Abstract
The subject was a 53-year-old male. An alveolar bone sample was obtained from the site of the lower left first molar, before dental implant placement. Although the details of the trabecular structure were not visible with conventional computed tomography, micro-computed tomography (microCT) three-dimensional images of the alveolar bone biopsy sample showed several plate-like trabeculae extending from the lingual cortical bone. Histological observations of the bone sample revealed trabeculae, cuboidal osteoblasts, osteoclasts and hematopoietic cells existing in the bone tissue at the implantation site. Bone metabolic markers and calcaneal bone density were all within normal ranges, indicating no acceleration of the patient’s bone metabolism.
Using microCT, and histological and histomorphometrical techniques, a great deal of valuable information about the bone tissue was obtained from a biopsy sample extracted from the patient’s planned implant site.