Dental Implants Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Dental Implants, including details on dentistry, surgery, tooth implants.

Histologic and histomorphometric analysis of three types of dental implants following 18 months of occlusal loading: a preliminary study in baboons.

Watzak G, Zechner W, Ulm C, Tangl S, Tepper G, Watzek G

Department of Oral Surgery, Clinic of Dentistry, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria. georg.watzak@univie.ac.at

The purpose of this study was to determine the percentage of 'bone area' (BA) and 'bone-to-implant contact' (BIC) of dental implants with different designs and surface modifications after functional loading. Three types of dental implants with fixed partial dentures were placed in the posterior jaws of adult baboons (commercially pure titanium (CpTi) screws, grit-blasted acid-etched (GBAE) screws, and titanium plasma-sprayed (TPS) cylinders), three of the same design per quadrant. After 18 months of functional loading, all implants investigated were successfully integrated in the jawbone and histologic and histomorphometric analyses were carried out. Statistical evaluation was performed with a mixed model with data given as least-square means and standard errors of the mean (SEM). Histologically, direct BIC without connective tissue interposed between implant surfaces and peri-implant bone was seen. Analysis of BA within 1 mm around implants showed significant differences between CpTi (50.5%) and TPS (39.7%) (+/-2.72 SEM; P<0.01) in the maxilla. To account for the different implant designs, absolute BIC was calculated. Significant differences were found between CpTi (23.9 mm) and TPS (15.1 mm) and between GBAE (27.2 mm) and TPS (15.1 mm) (+/-1.05 SEM; P<0.01) in the maxilla and between GBAE (26.5 mm) and TPS (19.6 mm) (+/-1.42 SEM; P<0.01) in the mandible. Overall, the data indicate that, in the maxilla, screw-shaped implants showed more absolute BIC than cylindrical implants, which had less maxillary than mandibular absolute BIC after 18 months of functional loading.

Published 24 August 2005 in Clin Oral Implants Res, 16(4): 408-16.
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