Are Bone Allografts Safe and Effective for Today’s Dental Practitioner?

A wide variety of dental procedures, including ridge and sinus augmentation, treatment of bony defects, and extraction socket preservation, may require a bone grafting material. To meet this need, there are many choices available including alloplasts, xenografts, autografts, and allografts. In particular, allografts, being a natural, human biological matrix and readily available have proven clinically reliable. However, not all allografts are equal in terms of processing, sterility, and proven clinical performance for dental applications. Here, we review the use of disinfected and terminally sterilized bone allografts for dental applications.