Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of early functional loading to plateaued implants on bone formation and implant stability in a dog model.
Materials and methods: Early loading (EL), nonloading control, and delayed loading (DL) groups were compared using six beagle dogs under functional loading. The Periotest® values were measured dynamically for 6 weeks. Peri-implant bone architecture was evaluated qualitatively by microcomputed tomography (μCT) and analyzed quantitatively by mineral apposition rates (MAR), bone-to-implant contact (BIC), and bone volumes (BV/TV) after the euthanasia at 3 and 6 weeks after loading.
Results: The EL implants showed poor stability at 1 week, but greater stability at 2 and 4 weeks after loading compared to DL implants. There was no significant difference between MAR of EL and unloaded implants at both time intervals. The EL implants displayed a significantly higher MAR when compared to DL implants at 3-5 weeks. A significantly higher BIC for the DL group was observed when compared to the EL group at 3 weeks following loading, however at 6 weeks; no significant difference between these groups was observed. The EL group gained a higher BIC than the no-treatment control group at 6 weeks.
Conclusions: For plateaued implant, the decreased healing time (1 week) displays a positive effect on peri-implant bone (re)modeling under functional loading during the early phase.
Clinical relevance: The early application of functional loading on plateaued implants can be used clinically to shorten the course of treatment and improve esthetics.