Background: A crucial aspect of contemporary dental implant research is modifying implant microdesign to achieve early and robust osseointegration. This study describes a new facile subtraction approach for microdesign modification of titanium implants using akali-hydrothermal followed by ion-exchange reaction (AHIE) in a salt solution, and compares osseointegration performance to machined titanium alloy (negative control) implants.
Methods: The morphology, wettability, and roughness of the implant surfaces were evaluated. Twenty-four cylinders (two types/side) were inserted into the right and left mandibles of six Bengal goats in opposite order. The implant-bone interface was examined at 8 and 16 weeks following implantation using radiography, micro-computed tomography, histology, and scanning electron microscopy.
Results: After AHIE treatment, average surface roughness increased marginally (p > 0.05) due to predominantly micron-scale with random nano-scale alterations, whereas wettability improved substantially (p < 0.05). In addition to micro/nano-scale defects, the AHIE treatment produced few honeycomb-like surface patterns. The AHIE implants demonstrated early and direct bone to implant body contact, and achieved stronger bone fixation in vivo than machined implants.
Conclusions: Based on laboratory and in vivo data, we conclude that AHIE processing of titanium implants may be a promising technique for improving surface quality while assuring secure and effective osseointegration for dental implant.
Keywords: Microdesign modification; bone-implant interface; hydrothermal treatment; machined titanium implant; osseointegration; surface roughness.