An in vivo study of bone response to implants topographically modified by laser micromachining

Dental implants topographically modified by laser ablation of periodic arrays of micron-sized craters, were studied in a two-part laboratory investigation. The patterned and control (turned) implants were inserted in rabbit femur and tibia. After 12 weeks the fixation in the bone was evaluated mechanically or by histomorphometry (all threads along the implant and the three best consecutive threads were analysed). In the pilot study no difference was found with respect to bone-to-implant contact and peak removal torque. Significantly more bone was found for the control implants when measuring the bone area inside the threads in the tibia. In the second part of the study, the pattern was improved and significantly more bone-to-implant contact was found for the laser-machined implants. The second part of the study also demonstrated significantly greater peak removal torque values in the tibia with the test implants than the control implants.