New approaches to improve bioactivity of PEEK

The high-performance thermoplastic polymer PEEK (poly-ether-ether-ketone) isused as alternative material to metals since 1998 in many medical fields due to its bone-like mechanical properties. These iso-elastic characteristics of PEEK lead to the assumption, that it could represent a viable alternative to conventional materials also in the field of dentistry. but its practical use suffers from several limitations. PEEK is biocompatible, chemically stable, radiolucent and has an elastic modulus similar to that of normal human bone, it is biologically inert, preventing good integration with adjacent bone tissues . Recent efforts have focused on increasing the bioactivity of PEEK . One approach is surface modification to activate PEEK through surface treatment alone or in combination with a surface coating. Another strategy is to prepare bioactive PEEK composites by impregnating bioactive materials into PEEK substrate.Although PEEK is always physically and chemically stable, it can be modified by some kind of physical or chemical treatments. Surface treatment alone or in combination with surface coating can greatly improve the bioactivity of PEEK. For the preparation of bioactive PEEK composites, the main challenge is to keep the excellent mechanical properties of PEEK when impregnating bioactive materials. The development of PEEK composites containing nano-sized bioactive materials may provide an effective way to obtain both mechanical and biological benefits.