Journal of Dental Research, Vol 71, 364-371, Copyright © 1992 by International & American Associations for Dental Research Online Journals
Light and transmission electron microscopy of the intact interfaces between non-submerged titanium-coated epoxy resin implants and bone or gingiva
M. A. Listgarten, D. Buser, S. G. Steinemann, K. Donath, N. P. Lang and H. P. Weber
University of Pennsylvania, School of Dental Medicine, Philadelphia 19104.
This experiment was aimed at studying the intact tissue/implant interface
of non-submerged dental implants with a titanium surface. Epoxy-resin
replicas were fabricated from 3.05 x 8 mm cylindrical titanium implants
with a plasma-sprayed apical portion and a smooth coronal collar. The
replicas were coated with a 90-120-nm-thick layer of pure titanium and
autoclaved. The coated replicas were inserted as non-submerged endosseous
implants in the edentulous premolar region of dog mandibles and allowed to
heal for three months. Jaw sections containing the implants were processed
for light and electron microscopic study of the intact tissue/implant
interface with and without prior demineralization. Gingival connective
tissue fibers were closely adapted to the titanium layer, in an orientation
more or less parallel to the implant surface. There was no evidence of any
fiber insertions into the surface irregularities of the smooth or rough
titanium surface. Undemineralized bone was intimately adapted to the
titanium surface without any intervening space. In demineralized sections,
the collagen fibers of the bone matrix tended to be somewhat thinner and
occasionally less densely packed in the vicinity of the implant surface.
However, they extended all the way to the titanium surface, without any
intervening fibril-free layer.
