Narrow Results

The material composition and surface structure of dental and orthopaedic implants have important effects on integration of the implants with the surrounding bone, and at the same time, the release of the constituent elements of the implants into the surrounding tissues. It is the aim of this paper to study the degree of release of Ti in relation to the surface roughness of the implants. For this purpose, screw shaped implants were prepared with two different surface topographies; one group was left as-machined, i.e. as machine-turned surface, and the second group was blasted with 25 µm Al₂O₃ particles. The surface topography was measured with a confocal laser scanning profilometer and the surface roughness was characterized using height and spatial descriptive parameters. The as-machined surfaces had an average surface roughness (S_a) of 0.96 µm and the blasted surfaces had an S_a value of 1.16 µm. The implants were inserted into rabbit bone for 1 year. Six samples (three of each type) were prepared for PIXE analysis. The PIXE analysis was done using proton beams from a tandem type accelerator. with an energy of 2 MeV. The results show that at distances of about 2 mm from implant surface, titanium release into hard tissues was found at similar amounts for the as-machined and the blasted implants inserted in the tibia.

A thin passive titanium dioxide, in its stoichiometric form, has a very high corrosion resistance, but the same conclusion can not be made on corrosion resistance of a surface which is not stoichiometrically titanium dioxide, or even a surface which is a composition of various elements and oxides. In practice, the implants available on the market have an oxide surface contaminated with other elements. The aim of this paper is to correlate clinical observations that show the deterioration of Ti made implants after certain period of insertion in the patients, and in vitro corrosion resistance of Ti implants with surface passive oxide layer. For this purpose, surface analysis of the retrieved failed implants were performed and in vivo animal experiments with relation to ion release from implants were done. Finally, on the basis of the clinical observation, in vivo animal test, and in vitro electrochemical corrosion test, a model is proposed to explain the corrosion and ion release from the Ti implant.