There is increasing interest in how pathways of tissue destruction around dental implants are similar as for teeth and how these pathways can be modulated to slow loss of supporting bone. The purposes of this study were to develop a short-term animal model to study the effect of the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug flurbiprofen, on slowing the rate of induced peri-implant bone resorption. A total of 20 cylindrical titanium implants were placed in 2 beagle dogs using a low-trauma surgical technique. During the 3-month healing period without functional loading of the implants, daily oral hygiene was performed to maintain a Gingival Index of 0 to 0.5. At completion of the healing period, a baseline evaluation was performed which included the uptake of the bone-seeking radiopharmaceutical (BSRU) 99mtechnetium-tin-diphosphonate (99mTc-Sn-MDP) in peri-implant bone and standardized radiographs. Peri-implantitis was induced with 4-0 silk ligatures, cessation of oral hygiene and soft diet. One beagle was given 0.02 mg/kg of flurbiprofen by mouth; the other received a placebo. BSRU and radiographic height of bone were remeasured to calculate the rate of bone loss during the 60-day treatment period. The percent rate of bone loss during the study period was calculated from the radiographs using a computer-assisted method. The radiopharmaceutical uptake for the flurbiprofen-treated implants remained unchanged. However, BSRU for placebo-treated implants was significantly increased from baseline.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)