Femtosecond Laser‐Texturing the Surface of Ti‐Based Implants to Improve Their Osseointegration Capacity

Abstract

Ideally, dental implants should achieve rapid and maintain long-term mechanical stability, which is determined primarily by their integration into the underlying supporting bone. [3] This osseointegration capacity can be markedly improved through modifications of key surface properties, including roughness, wettability, oxide layer thickness, and surface chemistry. [4][5][6] Currently, anodization, sandblasting and acid-etching are widely used, individually or in combination, to modify the surface properties of dental implants. However, not only are these methods inherently limited by their stochastic nature but they can also introduce surface contaminants, which require additional post-process cleaning steps that increase overall fabrication time and cost. [7] Laser-texturing has emerged as a promising alternative for the treatment of Ti implant surfaces, offering several advantages, including increased control, precision and reproducibility, while reducing processing time and costs. [8,9] Recently, laser-texturing has shown the capacity to direct osteoblast attachment [10] and to improve the osseointegration potential of Ti implant surfaces in comparison to polished surfaces, with the caveat that their performance in comparison to rougher, more clinically relevant surfaces, is still unknown. [11] Lasertexturing offers the capacity to easily generate a wide range of micro-and nano-scale topographical features and patterns. [12] In particular, due to its short pulse duration, femtosecond (fs)In modern oral maxillofacial surgery, long-term implant stability is intrinsically linked to the quality of osseointegration. While the osseointegration capacity of implants can be improved by modifying their surface properties, commonly used techniques, including sandblasting and acid etching, are stochastic processes offering virtually zero capacity to control the uniformity and reproducibility of micro-and nano-scale surface features. In this study, titanium-aluminiumvanadium (TiAlV) implant surfaces are modified using femtosecond (fs) lasertexturing, and its influence on physicochemical properties, on blood-implant interactions, and on the osseointegration potential is investigated in vitro. Lasertexturing enables the production of designer surfaces with micro-scale features defined in size and arrangement. While state of the art TiAlV surfaces prepared by sandblasting with biphasic calcium phosphate (BCP) show significant grain refinement at the near surface, fs laser-texturing preserves the grain size and enhances the microstrain and oxide layer thickness but also leads to 15% lower bulk fatigue in comparison to BCP treatment. Blood coagulation is similar on laser-textured and BCP surfaces, as is mineralization by human bone progenitor cells, albeit with a decreasing trend for laser-textured surfaces. Laser-texturing thus presents as a promising approach to create highly reproducible designer surfaces with biological performance comparable to state-of-the-art implants.

Surface Chemistry Dictates the Osteogenic and Antimicrobial Properties of Palladium‐, Platinum‐, and Titanium‐Based Bulk Metallic Glasses

“…[ 61–63 ] In this study, we assessed the capacity of BMGs to steer the osteogenic response of HBCs while taking into account the influence of blood–material interactions using a well‐established in‐vitro assay with enhanced physiological relevance. [ 32,64–66 ] The BMGs’ capacity to support HBC attachment was comparable to that of Ti64 ( Figure A). After only 24 h, HBCs had developed an elongated cell morphology and spread over the fibrinogen‐decorated surface of BMGs and Ti64 (Figure 7A).…”

“…[ 78 ] Ultimately, this could provide a more accurate alternative to stochastic processes currently used for the treatment of implant surfaces, including anodization, sandblasting, and acid‐etching. [ 32,64 ] The introduction of surface features could be used to further improve the capacity of BMGs to enhance osteogenesis in comparison to Ti64, as demonstrated here in the absence of any topographical features and notable surface roughness. Furthermore, the introduction of specific nano‐scale topographies could be used to further improve the antibacterial properties of BMG‐based implants beyond the level reported here.…”

Optical penetration models for practical prediction of femtosecond laser ablation of dental hard tissue

“…A nonlinear least squares algorithm (e.g., 36 ) was used to determine the model coefficients δ pen and q*. For model 2, the threshold fluence for ablation was fixed at the measured value and F thresh,optical was determined as a function of δ pen2 and q 2 * using Equation (17). Figure 3 shows measured and modeled characteristic curves for ablation of enamel.…”

“…Intentional surface texturing for improved bonding of restorative materials and surface patterning of dental implants for improved osseointegration capacity are further areas where femtosecond lasers have a valuable role to play. [15][16][17][18][19][20] The higher precision achieved with fs lasers compared to other laser types is attributed to the reduced size of the heat affected zone 17 and the range of surgical applications for fs lasers is expanding in areas where minimal collateral damage and high precision are required. 20 For dental applications, the proper choice of laser parameters for the fs laser is essential for high-quality laser processing.…”

Comparative study of cell interaction and bacterial adhesion on titanium of different composition, structure and surfaces with various laser treatment

“…However, recent studies have shown that the femtosecond laser can create both hydrophobic and hydrophilic surfaces. Lackington et al investigated the biocompatibility of titanium-based implants with femtosecond laser modified surfaces and reported that hydrophobicity can be affected by surface topography and chemical composition [43].…”