Assessing Osteointegration of Dental Implants with Boronized Surface Treatment

Objectives: Different surface treatments are currently used on dental implants to increase osteointegration and long-term stability in clinical practice. Among examples of these surface treatments are hydroxyapatite coating, acid etching, sand blasting or a combination. This study sought to explore boronization as an endo-steal implant surface treatment and its associated osteoconductive properties in an in vivo laboratory model.
Methods: The boronized surface treated and control (non-surface treated) implants were surgically placed into the iliac of an ovine model and were euthanized at 3 and 6 week time points. There were twenty implants in the study treated with the boronization method, and twenty untreated implants to serve as the control, for a total of forty samples in the study. Following nondecalcified sample processing, bone growth was quantified for bone in contact of the implant (BIC), and bone area fraction occupancy (BAFO) as an indicator of osteointegration.
Results: Boronization did not impact the initial engagement resulting from surgical instrumentation and implant dimensional interplay during placement. While boronized and control implants presented initial (at 3 weeks) biocompatible and osteoconductive properties, bone healing kinetics alteration regarding mineralization was noted as time elapsed in vivo (6 weeks) for the boronized samples group. Such a shift was evidenced by non-mineralized osteoid presence in proximity with the boronized implants.
Conclusions: Further studies are needed to delve into determining the mechanistic effect that boronization (and its potential fabrication method and dose dependence) has on bone mineralization.