Study of the osseointegration of dental implants placed with an adapted surgical technique.

OBJECTIVE

To study the osseointegration of dental implants placed with a modified surgical technique in Beagle dogs and to compare it with the conventional method.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Dental implants were placed bilaterally in the mandible of Beagle dogs using the press-fit as well as undersized implant bed preparation technique. Micro computer tomography (micro-CT) and histometric methods were used to analyze the bone implant contact and bone volume (BV) around the implants.

RESULTS

The bone-to-implant contact percentage (BIC: expressed as %), first BIC (1st BIC: expressed in mm), sulcus depth (SD: expressed in mm) and connective tissue thickness (CT: expressed in mm) were analyzed for both groups. The BIC percentage was significantly higher for the undersized installed implants (P=0.0118). Also, a significant difference existed between the undersized and press-fit installed implants for the first screw thread showing bone contact (P=0.0145). There were no significant differences in mucosal response (SD and CT) for both installation procedures. Also, no significant difference was found in the BV, as measured using micro-CT, between the implants placed with an undersized technique (59.3 ± 4.6) compared with the press-fit implants (56.6 ± 4.3).

CONCLUSION

From the observations of the study, it can be concluded that an undersized implant bed can enhance the implant-bone response.