What is the risk of disease transmission with bone allografts?
An allograft is a graft between genetically dissimilar members of the same species. An allograft may be obtained from living donors who are having bone removed during surgery or cadaveric donors. Allograft material has been used for more than 30 years in periodontal therapy. There are several types of allografts: • Fresh; fresh-frozen allograft • Freeze-dried bone allograft (FDBA) • Demineralized freeze-dried bone allograft (DFDBA) Both FDBA and DFDBA materials are widely used in periodontal therapy and there are no reports of disease transmission during the 30-year history of using freeze-dried bone allografts. However, there have been four cases of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection following procedures using fresh-frozen bone allografts. These cases involved surgeries of the spine, hip, and knee. It is important to note, however, that fresh-frozen and fresh allografts are not typically used in periodontal therapy. Also, when using FDBA and DFDBA, the delay in processing en
