Abstract
Bone graft substitutes are widely used for bone regeneration and repair in defect sites resulting from aging, disease, trauma, or accident. With invariably increasing clinical demands, there is an urgent need to produce artificial materials, which are readily available and are capable of fast and guided skeletal repair. Calcium phosphate based bioactive ceramics are extensively utilized in bone regeneration and repair applications. Silicon is often utilized as a substituent or a dopant in these bioceramics, since it significantly enhances the ultimate properties of conventional biomaterials such as surface chemical structure, mechanical strength, bioactivity, biocompatibility, etc. This article presents an overview of the silicon substituted bioceramics, which have emerged as efficient bone replacement and bone regeneration materials. Thus, the role of silicon in enhancing the biological performance and bone forming capabilities of conventional calcium phosphate based bioceramics is identified and reviewed.
•The bioactive behavior of Si substituted bioceramics used for bone regeneration is reviewed.•The role of silicon in osteogenesis, cell differentiation, and bone apposition is identified.•The inconclusive reports on mechanism of action of Si substituted bioceramics are discussed.•Future work in understanding effects of Si on biological performance of substituted ceramics is suggested.