Treatments to Optimize Dental Implant Surface Topography and Enhance Cell Bioactivity

Abstract

Osseointegration is a biological process in which histological, surgical, infectious factors, biomechanical load, and the choice of biomaterials all play important roles. In the case of dental implants, the success of this process is also influenced by the design, composition, and properties of the implant surface, which may stimulate cell bioactivity and promote osteoblast adhesion. Currently, the raw materials most frequently used in the manufacture of dental implants are titanium, its alloys, and certain ceramic materials such as zirconia. Multiple macroscopic designs incorporating various diameters, lengths, shapes, and types of screw offer different options for specific clinical situations. The characteristics of implant surfaces have aroused great interest, due to their importance in osseointegration. The different methods used to modify surface properties are classified as additive (i.e., impregnation and coating) or subtractive (i.e., physical, mechanical and chemical methods). The surface characteristics of dental implants also have a significant influence on peri-implant microbiota.

Infection Control in Dentistry and Drug-Resistant Infectious Agents: A Burning Issue. Part 1

“…Here, based on recent and current knowledge, we focus on two well-known bacterial strains, S. aureus and Enterococcus, and their resistant strains. It is known that S. aureus and Enterococcus faecalis have been implicated in implant-associated infections [21,23,24,81], endodontic infections [22,25,82], and recently in an outbreak of Enterococcus endocarditis [11]. We focus on these Gram-positive bacteria for the high innate resistance or ability to become resistant to most antibiotics along with some other virulence factors (hydrophobicity, adherence to abiotic surfaces (including dental implant materials), biofilm formation, ability to growth also in anaerobic conditions) [83].…”

Infection Control in Dentistry and Drug-Resistant Infectious Agents: A Burning Issue. Part 2

“…These features are important in the exploration of standard precaution failures since bacterial adherence to inanimate objects (i.e., many objects in dental settings, dental implants, collagen-based biomaterials, etc.) is known to be linked with the presence of surface components with nonpolar/hydrophobic vs. polar/hydrophilic characteristics; in particular for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), its estimated infective dose is very low (4 CFU) [31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42]. Fast and very sensitive molecular biological techniques (quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), multiplex PCR, microarray, next-generation sequencing technologies, etc.)…”