Relative contributions of implant hydrophilicity and nanotopography to implant anchorage in bone at Early Time Points.

OBJECTIVE

To compare the contributions of implant hydrophilicity and nanotopography on anchorage in bone. The effect of elevated calcium surface chemistry on bone anchorage was also investigated.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

A full factorial study design was implemented to evaluate the effects of ultraviolet (UV) light and/or sodium lactate (SL) and discrete crystalline deposition of nanocrystals (DCD) treatments on the osseointegration of dual acid-etched (AE) titanium alloy (Ti6Al4V) and grit blasted and AE (BAE) commercially pure titanium (CpTi) implants. Sodium hydroxide (NaOH)-treated CpTi implants were immersed in simulated body fluid (SBF) to increase calcium surface chemistry. Implants were placed in the femora of Wistar rats and tested using pull-out testing (BAE implants: 5, 9, 14 days) or tensile testing (AE implants: 9 days, NaOH implants: 28 days).

RESULTS

Ti6Al4V-AE implants with DCD- and UV-treated surfaces significantly increased bone anchorage compared with untreated Ti6Al4V-AE alloy implants. Pull-out testing of BAE-CpTi implants with the DCD treatment showed increased disruption force values compared with surfaces without the DCD treatment at 5, 9 and 14 days by 4.1N, 13.9N and 15.5N, respectively, and UV-treated implants showed an increase at 14 days by 8.4N. No difference was found between NaOH + SBF and NaOH + H2 O groups.

CONCLUSIONS

Bone anchorage of implants was found to be improved by UV-treating implants or nanotopographically complex surfaces. However, implant nanotopography was found to have a greater contribution to the overall bone anchorage and is more consistent compared with the time-dependent nature of the UV treatment.