Surface Analysis of SLA and SLActive Dental Implants

Abstract

Dental implants are routinely used in restorative dentistry to support restorations made to replace missing hard and soft tissues. The more their applications increase, the greater the clinical interest becomes in the implants integrating quickly with the bone in order to be functional. Here we study SLA and SLActive dental implants (Straumann, Switzerland / SLA- Sandblasted with Long grit corundum followed by Acid etching with Sulfuric and Hydrochloric acid), which are both made of cold worked titanium grade 2. Combined with SLA and SLActive surfaces they demonstrate good biocompatibility, excellent mechanical strength as well as osseointegration properties. Their only difference lies at the last stage of the production process, when the SLA implants are dry-stored after sand-blasting and acid etching, ready to be used by the surgeon, whereas SLActive implants, after acid etching are rinsed under protective N2 gas conditions and stored in isotonic NaCl (saline) solution. Buser et al. (2004) showed that SLActive surface promotes earlier bone apposition and provides greater implant stability during the first critical weeks of osseointegration. Here we conduct a surface analysis of SLA and SLActive implants and we study the interactions of these implants with synthetic biological fluids to monitor the changes in the surface of Ti before and after exposure to them. We also discuss the effect of UV treatment on the implant surface as a means of improving the osseointegration time by further reducing carbon contamination of the surface. SLA and SLActive disks (5mm x 1mm) were obtained from Straumann Schweiz (Basel, Switzerland). SLActive had contact angle

Date of Award	31 Dec 2013
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The University of Manchester
Supervisor	Nick Silikas (Supervisor) & Andrew Thomas (Supervisor)