Positive effect of early loading on implant stability in the bi-cortical guinea-pig model

Loading, early after implant placement, has gained rapid interest in dentistry. Primary implant stability, as e.g. defined by resonance frequency instrumentation, has been isolated as a predicator when immediate and early implant loading is applied. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of early (after 7 days) mechanical loading on the establishment of osseointegration by means of resonance frequency analysis (RFA). Percutaneous titanium implants were installed in both tibiae of 10 guinea-pigs. One week after implant installation, one implant (test) was loaded daily for 6 weeks, while the contra-lateral served as the unloaded one (control). A sinusoidally varying bending moment was applied at a frequency of 3 Hz and a force amplitude of 5 N, for 1800 cycli. Resonance frequency was measured at implant installation and from then on weekly using the RFA-device (Osstell). Contrary to control implants, that showed a decrease in stability 1 week after installation, reaching a minimum at 3 weeks (-200 Hz), test implants showed a progressive increase in stability over time. After 6 weeks, the mean resonance frequency of test and control implants reached the same values. As confirmed by recent literature, early loading does not have to endanger the establishment of osseointegration of titanium implants. On the contrary, controlled loading is beneficial to maintain the implant stability during the early critical healing period as determined by RFA-measurements.