A histomorphometric evaluation of screw-shaped implants each prepared with two surface roughnesses.

Four different surface modifications were designed. Forty screw-shaped implants were divided into 4 groups, 10 screws in each. Every screw was prepared with 2 different surface topographies. The surface topography was measured with a confocal laser scanning profilometer and the surface roughness was characterized using 1 height, 1 spatial and 1 hybrid descriptive parameter. After 12 weeks in rabbit bone all screws were histomorphometrically evaluated. Blasted surfaces demonstrated more bone in contact to implant surface compared with turned surfaces. Most bone in close contact to implant surface was found for a surface blasted with 75 microns sized particles, numerically characterized with an average height deviation (Sa) of 1.4 microns, an average wavelength (Scx) of 11.6 microns and a developed surface area ratio (Sdr) of 1.5.