Biomimetic treatment on dental implants for short-term bone regeneration

Objectives

The main purpose of this work was to assess the short-term bone regenerative potential of new osteoconductive implants. The novelty of the study lies in the analysis of the effectiveness of a novel two-step treatment which combines shot-blasting with a thermo-chemical treatment, at very short times after implant placement in a minipig model.

Materials and methods

Three hundred twenty implants with four different surface treatments, namely bioactivated surfaces, micro-rough grit-blasted, micro-rough acid-etched and smooth as-machined titanium implants were placed into the bone of 20 minipigs. The percent of bone-to-implant contact was determined 3 days, 1, 2, 3 and 10 weeks after implant placement by histomorphometric analysis. Surface composition, topography and wettability of the implant specimens were analysed.

Results

The combination of shot-blasting and thermo-chemical treatment accelerated bone regeneration at early stages in comparison with all other treatments between day 3 and week 3 (p?<?0.05). The value of osseointegration attained at week 2 was maintained until the end of the experiment without any significant changes (percent direct contact?≈?85 %). This was mostly attributed to the ability of these implants to form in vivo a layer of apatitic mineral that coated the implant and could rapidly stimulate bone nucleation and growth from the implant surface.

Conclusions

The surface quality resulting from this treatment on cpTi provided dental implants with a unique ability of rapid bone regeneration and osseointegration.

Clinical relevance

This treatment represents a step forward in the direction of reducing the time prior to implant loading.