Current Application of β‐tricalcium Phosphate Composites in Orthopaedics

<jats:p>Presently, bioceramic materials have been extensively used in spinal surgery as bone grafts; however, there are some limitations for bioceramic materials. Calcium sulfate is rapidly absorbed <jats:italic>in vivo</jats:italic>, the degradation of which often occurs prior to the formation of new bones. Hydroxyapatite (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">HA</jats:styled-content>) is hardly absorbed, which blocks the formation of new bones and remodeling, and results in poor local stability or permanent stress concentration. Only β‐tricalcium phosphate (β‐<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">TCP</jats:styled-content>) is relatively balanced between scaffold absorption and bone formation. And it is a good biodegradable ceramic material that could supply a large quantity of calcium ion and sulfate ion as well as scaffold structure for bone regeneration. However, the problem of single β‐<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">TCP</jats:styled-content> is lack of osteoinductivity and osteogenicity, which restricts its application. Therefore β‐<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">TCP</jats:styled-content> composite materials have been used in the field of orthopaedics in recent decades, which fully use excellent properties of other bone repairing materials, such as biodegradability, osteoinductivity, osteogenicity and osteoconductivity. These materials make up for the deficiencies of single β‐<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">TCP</jats:styled-content> and endow β‐<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">TCP</jats:styled-content> with more biological and physical properties.</jats:p>