Background: Long-term success and patient satisfaction of dental implant systems can only be achieved by fulfilling clinical as well as biological needs related to maintenance, aesthetics, soft tissue sealing, and osseointegration, among others. Surface properties largely contribute to the biological and clinical performance of implants and abutments.
Purpose: To decipher the clinical and biological needs in implant dentistry. To address identified needs, next-generation dental implant and abutment surfaces are designed and characterized in vitro.
Materials and methods: Novel implant and abutment surface designs were produced and characterized using surface chemical analysis, surface topography analysis, scanning electron microscopy, contact-angle measurements, and cell-culture experiments.
Results: The novel anodized implant surface was gradually anodized, increasing the surface roughness, surface enlargement, and oxide-layer thickness from platform to apex. The surface was phosphorus enriched, nonporous, and nanostructured at the collar, and showed micropores elsewhere. The novel anodized abutment surface was smooth, nanostructured, nonporous, and yellow. Pristine surfaces with high density of hydroxyl-groups were protected during storage using a removable cell-friendly layer that allowed dry packaging.
Conclusions: A novel anodized implant system was developed with surface chemistry, topography, nanostructure, color, and surface energy designed to balance the clinical and biological needs at every tissue level.
Keywords: anodization; dental implant system; osseointegration; protective layer; soft-tissue attachment; surface chemistry.
© 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.