Calcium zirconium silicate (baghdadite) ceramic as a biomaterial

Abstract Bioceramics have been widely used for many years to restore and replace hard tissues including bones, teeth and mineralized matrices such as calcified cartilages at osteochondral interfaces, mainly because of their physicochemical similarity with these tissues. Calcium silicate based bioceramics have been shown to possess high bioactivity due to having high apatite-forming ability and stimulating cell proliferation, as well as biodegradability at rates appropriate to hard tissue regeneration. The outstanding biological properties of these ceramics have made them the most studied hard tissue engineering biomaterials along with calcium phosphates and bioactive glasses. Baghdadite is a calcium silicate containing zirconium ions which promotes the proliferation and differentiation of human osteoblasts and consequently increases mineral metabolism and ossification. Recently, it has attracted considerable attention in academic community and widely studied in the form of porous scaffolds, coatings, bone cement and void fillers, microspheres and nanoparticles mostly in orthopedic, dental and maxillofacial applications. This review paper is aimed to summarize and discuss the most relevant studies on the mechanical properties, apatite formation ability, dissolution behavior, and in vitro and in vivo biological properties of baghdadite as a biomaterial for hard tissue regeneration applications.