Study on Synthetic Bone Mineral to Shorten Implant Treatment in a Rat Model of Osteoporosis

Objectives: Osteoporosis contributes to impaired bone regeneration and remodeling through an imbalance of osteoblastic and osteoclastic activity, and potentially delays peri-implant bone formation, resulting in a prolonged healing period. It poses several difficulties for individuals with large edentulous areas and decreases their quality of life. Consequently, shortening the healing period and accelerating final prosthesis placement postoperatively are very important clinically. Peri-implant bone formation may be enhanced by systemic approaches, such as the use of osteoporosis supplements, to promote bone metabolism. We aimed to confirm whether intake of a supplement developed for osteoporosis, synthetic bone mineral (SBM), was effective in a rat model of osteoporosis in accelerating peri-implant bone formation as part of the healing process after implantation
Methods: Thirty-six 7-week-old ovariectomized female Wistar rats were randomly assigned to receive a standardized diet with (diet with SBM group, n = 18) or without SBM (diet without SBM group, n = 18). The rats underwent implant surgery at 9 weeks of age under general anesthesia. The main outcome measures were bone mineral density (BMD) and pull-out strength of the implant from the femur, and were compared at 2 and 4 weeks after implantation using the Mann–Whitney U test.
Results: The pull-out strength and BMD of the diet with SBM group were significantly greater than those of the diet without SBM group at 2 and 4 weeks after implantation.
Conclusions: This study demonstrated that SBM could be effective in accelerating peri-implant bone formation during the healing period after implantation in osteoporosis.