The effect of electrical stimulation on bone formation around hydroxyapatite implants placed on the rabbit mandible

Nonresorbable, nonporous, particulate hydroxyapatite (HA) was implanted on the mandible in rabbits and stimulated electrically, 4 hours per day, during the first postoperative week. Stimulated and control implant sites were recovered 8 weeks postoperatively and examined histologically. The HA migrated into the mandible in the electrically treated specimens, and was routinely found in intimate association with preexisting mandibular bone. In the controls, the HA remained superior to the mandibular surface. In further studies (without electrical stimulation) in which the implant site was recovered 26 weeks postoperatively, HA was observed in the mandible; some HA particles migrated completely through the mandible and were found in the adjacent soft tissue. It was concluded that, under the conditions studied, electrical stimulation does not promote bone growth into HA, but rather produces the opposite result--it promotes more rapid movement of HA particles into the mandibular bone. The HA particle migration into the mandible observed (longer postoperative times) in the absence of electrical stimulation suggests that migration is a general property of HA particles when placed over bone under muscle.