A histomorghometric study of screw‐shaped and removal torque titanium implants with three different surface topographies

Abstract

Screw‐shaped implants with 3 different surface topographies, evidenced visually as well as numerically with an optical profilometer. were inserted in rabbit bone. After a healing period of 12 weeks, a statistically significant higher removal torque was needed to unscrew screws blasted with25 μm TiO₂ particles and screws blasted with 75 μm particles of A1203 compared with screws with a turned surface. The histomorphometric evaluation demonstrated a higher percentage of bone‐to‐metal contact for implants blasted with 25 μm particles of TiO₂ compared with the as‐machined implants. A greater surface area of bone in threads was found for the turned screws compared with screws blasted with 25 μm TiO₂ particles. In the short‐term follow‐up, there was a better fixation of implants with an average surface roughness of 0.9–1.3 μm and with a homogeneous surface structure than of implants with an average surface roughness of 0.4 μm and with a clear direction of the surface pattern.