Early bone healing around different implant bulk designs and surgical techniques: A study in dogs

Purpose: To evaluate the bone healing response to different implant root shape designs in a dog model. Materials and Methods: Three by eight millimeter screw-type short-pitch (SP) and large-pitch (LP) implants (Intra-Lock International, Boca Raton, FL, USA), and 4.5 × 6 mm plateau (P) implants (Bicon LLC, Boston, MA, USA) were placed along the proximal tibia of six dogs for 2 and 4 weeks. The combination of implant design and final osteotomy drilling resulted in healing chambers for the LP and P implants. The implants were nondecalcified processed to plates of ∼30-μm thickness and were evaluated by optical microscopy for healing patterns and bone-to-implant contact (BIC). One-way analysis of variance at 95% level of significance and Tukey's test were utilized for multiple comparisons among the groups' BIC. Results: Microscopy showed a ∼150-μm region of newly deposited bone along the whole perimeter of SP implants, near the edge of the LP implant threads, and plateau tips for P implants. Rapid woven bone formation and filling was observed in regions where surgery and implant design resulted in healing chambers. No significant differences in BIC were observed (p > .75). Conclusions: Different implant design/surgical protocol resulted in varied bone healing patterns. However, the BIC and bone morphology evolution between implant designs were comparable. Regardless of the combination between implant design and final osteotomy drilling, bone morphology evolution from 2 to 4 weeks was comparable.