Experimental study of turned and grit-blasted screw-shaped implants with special emphasis on effects of blasting material and surface topography.

In the rabbit tibia, commercially pure titanium implants blasted with 25-microns Al2O3 and TiO2 particles respectively were inserted and studied with respect to removal torque and histomorphometry. In the rabbit femur, as-machined implants and implants blasted with 75-microns Al2O3 particles were histomorphometrically compared. Before implant insertion, the differently produced surface topographies were characterized numerically and visually. The tibial implants blasted with different materials and the same sized (25 microns) blasting particles demonstrated similar results. Comparing implants blasted with 75-microns Al2O3 particles to as-machined implants, the blasted specimens exhibited a statistically significant higher bone-to-metal contact after 12 weeks in the rabbit bone.