Titanium is commonly used for dental implants because of its unique ability to get incorporated into living bone. There is an ongoing development to obtain better anchorage and surface properties such as roughness and chemical composition are modified to reach this. In this study titanium dental implant surfaces were characterised by recording the topographical changes induced by each individual processing step such as cleaning, blasting, and HF etching. To fully describe the different surfaces, the same point was analysed before and after each step using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and 3D-Scanning Electron Microscopy (3D-SEM). A set of 3D surface parameters were calculated as a function of filter size to describe the topographic features at different levels. The chemical treatment introduces nano-sized features while blasting changes the topography at the micrometer level and by combining AFM and 3D-SEM the entire range can be assessed. The results show that the chemically induced changes in the topography can only be revealed by AFM while 3D-SEM gives a clear description of the topography of blasted surfaces. The fractal dimension for the chemically treated surface was the same as for the blasted surfaces but crossover size was much smaller. Besides the commonly used S a parameter it is suggested that the root-mean-square of the surface slope (S dq ) and the void volume (V vc ) parameters are included in the characterisation of rough surfaces. These parameters can be used for correlation with in vivo performance.

No abstract

A theoretical model for estimation of the bone-to-implant interfacial shear strength induced by implant surface roughness has been developed. Two different assumptions regarding the constitutive behaviour of the interfacial bone were made. 1) The bone exhibits an ideally plastic deformation -the plastic mode.2) The bone exhibits a linearly elastic deformation -the elastic mode. In the plastic mode it was found that the estimated interfacial shear strength was directly proportional to the 2D surface roughness parameter mean slope. For the elastic mode a new 2D surface roughness parameter was defined. With this parameter a direct proportionality between parameter value and estimated interfacial shear strength was also obtained in the elastic mode. The model was extended into 3D mode. The model was used to evaluate topographies of implant surfaces. The calculated results showed a similar trend to interfacial shear strength results reported in vivo.

No abstract

Nanoparticle-covered electrodes have altered properties as compared to conventional electrodes with same chemical composition. The changes originate from the large surface area and enhanced conduction. To test the mineralization capacity of such materials, TiO2 nanoparticles were deposited on titanium and gold substrates. The electrochemical properties were investigated using cyclic voltammetry and impedance spectroscopy while the mineralization was tested by immersion in simulated body fluid. Two types of nucleation and growth behaviours were observed. For smooth nanoparticle surfaces, the initial nucleation is fast with the formation of few small nuclei of hydroxyapatite. With time, an amorphous 2D film develops with a Ca/P ratio close to 1.5. For the rougher surfaces, the nucleation is delayed but once it starts, thick layers are formed. Also the electronic properties of the oxides were shown to be important. Both density of states (DOS) in the bandgap of TiO2 and the active area were determined. The maximum in DOS was found to correlate with the donor density (N d) and the active surface area. The results clearly show that a rough surface with high conductivity is beneficial for formation of thick apatite layers, while the nanoparticle covered electrodes show early nucleation but limited apatite formation.

No abstract

For dental implants, improved osseointegration is obtained by modifying the surface roughness as well as oxide morphology and composition. A combination of different effects contributes to enhanced performance, but with surface roughness as the dominant factor. To single out the effect of oxide conductivity on biological response, oxide films with similar thickness and surface roughness but different electronic properties were formed using galvanostatic anodization. Three different current densities were used, 2.4, 4.8, and 11.9 mA cm(-2) , which resulted in growth rates ranging from 0.2 to 2.5 V s(-1) . The electronic properties were evaluated using cyclic voltammetry and impedance spectroscopy, while the biological response was studied by cell activity and apatite formation. The number of charge carrier in the oxide film close to the oxide/solution interface decreased from 5.8 × 10(-19) to 3.2 × 10(-19) cm(-2) with increasing growth rate, that is, the conductivity decreased correspondingly. Cell response of the different surfaces was tested in vitro using human osteoblast-like cells (MG-63). The results clearly show decreased osteoblast proliferation and adhesion but higher mineralization activity for the oxide with lower conductivity at the oxide/solution interface. The apatite-forming ability was examined by immersion in simulated body fluid. At short times the apatite coverage was ∼26% for the anodized surfaces, significantly larger than for the reference with only 3% coverage. After 1 week of immersion the apatite coverage ranged from 73 to 56% and a slight differentiation between the anodized surfaces was obtained with less apatite formation on the surface with lower conductivity, in line with the cell culture results.