Purpose: In order to promote osseointegration and shorten the healing time after dental implant operations, this study was conducted to develop a chair-side plasma treatment system in which Ti implants were used as a coaxial internal electrode to rapidly enhance their surface hydrophilicity.
Methods: Surface hydrophilicity was evaluated by measurement of the water contact angle and the defined wetting time. Changes in temperature and chemical composition were analyzed using infrared thermal imaging and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), respectively. The biocompatibility of the treated implants was examined in an animal experiment.
Results: A marked improvement of hydrophilicity was demonstrated by a decrease in the water contact angle of the treated implant to 0° and wetting of the whole surface within 3 s of water contact. The Ti implant hydrophilization mechanism was explained as a decrease in the degree of hydrocarbon contamination. The surface temperature of the treated implant was close to that of the human body, and good osseointegration was observed in the in vivo experiment.
Conclusion: The plasma treatment system developed here is a promising chair-side procedure for rapidly enhancing the surface hydrophilicity of Ti implants in clinical operations without any need to consider the degradation of hydrophilicity caused by long-term storage.
Keywords: chair-side procedure; cold plasma; hydrophilic treatment; titanium dental implant.