The Effects of Systemic Vitamin D Level on the Healing of Different Graft Materials: An Experimental Histological Study

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of serum vitamin D levels on the healing of different bone graft materials. Thirty-six male rats were divided into three groups and fed special feeds containing different amounts of vitamin D for 6 weeks before the surgical phase: the high serum vitamin D level group (group H) 10,000 iu/kg vitamin D3; the standard serum vitamin D level group (group C) 1000 iu/kg D3; and the low-level vitamin D group (group L) 100 iu/kg vitamin D3. Under general anesthesia, four defects with a diameter of 5 mm were created in the calvaria of the rats. The defects were augmented with autogenous grafts, allografts, xenografts, or left empty. The serum vitamin D level was measured before the surgery and before sacrifice. At the end of the 6th week, the subjects were sacrificed, and histological and histomorphometric analyses were performed. Study results show that in all graft types, as vitamin D levels increase, the number of new bone formations increases. There was no significant difference between the graft materials in terms of new bone formation criteria in group L. In group H and group C, the highest new bone formation was seen in the allograft group (1.48 ± 0.07, 0.66 ± 0.19, respectively). Prospective randomized clinical studies are required to evaluate the effect of vitamin D dose on the success of augmentation procedures in the clinic.