A firm bond between an implant and the surrounding soft tissue is important for the performance of many medical devices (e.g., stents, canyls, and dental implants). In this study, the performance of nonresorbable and reactive sol-gel-derived nano-porous titania (TiO(2)) coatings in a soft tissue environment was investigated. A direct attachment between the soft tissue and the sol-gel-derived titania coatings was found in vivo after 2 days of implantation, whereas the titanium control implants showed no evidence of soft tissue attachment. The coated implants were in immediate contact with the connective tissue, whereas the titanium controls formed a gap and a fibrous capsule on the implant-tissue interface. The good soft tissue attachment of titania coatings may result from their ability to initiate calcium phosphate nucleation and growth on their surfaces (although the formation of poorly crystalline bonelike apatite does not occur). Thus, the formation of a bonelike CaP layer is not crucial for their integration in soft tissue. The formation of bonelike apatite was hindered by the adsorption of proteins onto the initially formed amorphous calcium phosphate growth centers, thus preventing the dissolution/reprecipitation processes required for the formation of poorly crystalline bonelike apatite. These findings might open novel application areas for sol-gel-derived titania-based coatings.

Nanoporous sol-gel-derived TiO(2) thin film on ITI Straumann dental implants improved soft tissue attachment in vivo.

This study was designed to examine the attachment and reactions of soft tissues to sol-gel-derived TiO2 coatings. In the first experiment, TiO2 coated and uncoated titanium cylinders were placed subcutaneously into the backs of rats for 3, 11 and 90 days. Tissue response and implant surfaces were characterized with routine light microscopy and scanning electron microscopic (SEM) analysis. In the second experiment, TiO2-coated and uncoated discs were implanted subcutaneously into the backs of rats for 14 and 21 days. The discs were pulled out from the implantation sites with a mechanical testing device using a constant speed of 5 mm/min. Rupture force was registered, after which the discs were assigned for SEM and transmission electron microscopic (TEM) analysis. All the coated implants showed immediate contact with the surrounding soft tissues without a clear connective tissue capsule. Significantly better soft tissue response was measured for all the coated compared to the uncoated cylinders (p<0.01). Higher rupture forces were measured for all coated discs, although the differences were not statistically significant. An immediate and tight connection between connective tissue fibroblasts and coatings was noticed in TEM analysis. Our study indicates that TiO2 coatings improve soft tissue attachment on a titanium surface.

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