Preface

Bone is one of the few human tissues that has the ability to be completely regenerated after injury. Unlike other tissues, the majority of bony injuries heal without the formation of scar tissue, and bone is regenerated with its preexisting properties restored. The newly formed bone is eventually indistinguishable from the adjacent uninjured bone.

However, some situations compromise the regenerative capacity of the tissue, leading to the need for medical or dental intervention. There are conditions in which bone regeneration is required in large quantity, beyond the usual potential for self-healing, such as large bone defects created by trauma, infection, tumor resection, and skeletal abnormalities, or in cases in which the process is compromised, as in the avascular necrosis.

Although there are many techniques in use in clinical practice to deal with these problems, such as bone grafts, bone graft substitutes, and distraction osteogenesis, many of them still have limitations, making this field favorable to the emergence of new technologies.

The aim of this book is to present recent advances in this area, with chapters written by lead‐ ing international researchers. The book is organized into three sections. The first part de‐ scribes some of the techniques already available for clinical use nowadays. The second part presents the results of new research in the field and may be used in clinical practice in the near future. The third section deals specifically with research in tissue engineering, where major advances have occurred with the use of cells, scaffolds, and growth factors.

**Alessandro Rozim Zorzi**

Orthopedics and Traumatology Department, Campinas State University (UNICAMP), Brazil

**João Batista de Miranda**

Orthopedics and Traumatology Department, Campinas State University (UNICAMP), Brazil

**Clinical Approaches to Enhance Bone Regeneration**
