Improvement of osseointegration of titanium dental implants by a modified sandblasting surface treatment: an in vivo interfacial biomechanics study.

To study the effects of a modified sandblasting surface treatment on the osseointegration of dental implants at the level of interfacial biomechanics, an in vivo pullout test was conducted using bone-interfacial shear strength as a criterion. Titanium implants were inserted into the medialis condyli of dogs and harvested 2, 4, and 12 weeks after insertion. Shear strength was determined with an Instron pullout tester. Observation and analysis of the surface of modified sandblasted implants after pullout at 12 weeks were performed with scanning electron microscopy and x-ray spectroscopy. Results showed that the shear strength of implants with a modified sandblasted surface was about five times as high as that of implants with a smooth surface. We concluded that the rough surface of titanium dental implants created by the modified sandblasting treatment can greatly enhance the shear strength at the dental implant-bone interface and that, with this enhancement, the secondary micropores play a much more important role in implant-bone bonding.