Devices and methods for the restoration of a spinal disc

A system and method is provided for maintaining a proper intervertebral disc height during the replacement or augmentation of the spinal disc. In one embodiment, a cannulated distractor (10) is used to distract the adjacent vertebrae and maintain a proper disc space height. The cannulated distractor (10) is fluidly connected to a source of fluent material for injection into the disc space. The distraction includes a distraction tip (18) resident within the disc space that includes a central lumen and a number of openings communicating with the lumen (16) to dispense the fluent material within the disc space.