The effect of calcium phosphate bone substitute on defect resolution around a rough-surfaced dental implants in dogs.

Gap defects often exist around dental implants due to morphological differences between the natural tooth extraction socket and the dental implant. Techniques that can resolve such gap defects include implant surface modification and filling of the defects with bone substitutes. Modified surfaces are generally more effective in this regard than smooth surfaces. Favorable results have also been reported using bone substitutes. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a calcium phosphate (CaP) bone substitute for resolving gap defects around implant surfaces that have been treated with grit blasting and thermal etching. Implants were placed in edentulous areas in four mongrel dogs. Gap defects with a diameter of 2 mm were prepared surgically around the dental implants. These defects were either filled with CaP bone substitute (experimental group) or left unfilled (control group). Defects were evaluated after 8 and 16 weeks of healing. Block specimens were fixed, sectioned, and stained with hematoxylin and eosin. Histometric measurements revealed that healing in gap defects that had been filled with CaP bone substitute proceeded until 16 weeks. Total CaP degradation seemed to occur at between 4 and 8 weeks of healing. In conclusion, a more complete defect resolution was observed in gap defects filled with CaP bone substitute after 16 weeks than after 8 weeks of healing. The beneficial effects of filling in 2-mm gap defects around implants were attributed to the use of CaP bone substitute.