Bacterial contamination of filtered intraoral bone chips

Intraoral bony defects can be filled with bony particles that are collected in a titanium filter. The aim of this study was to determine quantitatively and qualitatively the degree of this contamination. Over a period of 3 months, bony particles were collected from 50 patients undergoing oral surgery. The bony particles were scraped off the filter, resuspended, and incubated aerobically and anaerobically on human blood agar media. Colony forming units (CFU) were determined as well as the most common species of bacteria. All samples showed anaerobic and aerobic growth. After anaerobic incubation in 44 samples the number of bacteria was higher (38) or equal (six) to that after aerobic incubation. On average, 435 000 CFU (aerobic) and 1 013 000 CFU (anaerobic) per sample were found. The most frequently identified bacteria belonged to Veillonella spp. in the anaerobic and to Streptococcus oralis in the aerobic cultures. In 43 samples black-pigmented colonies were detected. Only bacteria common in the oral cavity were identified. Prophylactic antibiotic therapy may be indicated when using filtered bony particles for intraoral augmentation procedures.