It was towards the end of the 19th century that celluloid was used as the first plastic material for cranioplasty.

Its alleged carcinogenic properties soon led to its being forgotten until plexiglass and a whole series of methylmethacrylates were developed from 1959 onwards. These acrylates (in particular Palacos® R) proved to be non-irritable on the surrounding tissue.

Celluloids were widely used until the discovery of tantalum and methylmethacrylate. The main disadvantage was postoperative fluid collection and the need of aspiration of this fluid ¹⁾