Objective      To evaluate the effect of porous tantalum pellets on repairing jaw bone defect.       Methods      The mandibular premolars of 3 beagle dogs were pulled out. After 3 months

a dental planter was used to construct a bone defect model. Immediately

porous tantalum pellets (experimental group

n=9) or Bio-oss bone (control group

n=9) were transplanted into the right and left defect areas. After 3 months

X-ray filming was used to elucidate bone formation and bone modeling. Moreover

the bones were cut into slices with an EXAKT slicer

and toluidine blue staining was used to observe bone maturity.       Results      After 3-month transplantation

the gross specimen and X-ray imaging demonstrated that new bones were found in both the control group and the experiment group

but the bone modeling was significantly higher in the experiment group than in the control group (9.54±0.10 vs 8.98±0.09

P0.05). Toluidine blue staining demonstrated that bone was more mature in the experiment group

and was inserted into the porous tantalum pellets. However

many bone sags were observed at the periphery of Bio-oss bone in the control group.       Conclusion      Porous tantalum pellets can better induce bone formation and repair the jaw bone defect than Bio-oss bone.