Titanium Implants after alkali heating treatment with a [Zn(OH)4]2 complex: analysis of interfacial bond strength...

Clinical demands for stronger and faster bone bonding to implants have motivated the development of chemically and topographically modified surfaces capable of chemical bonding. This study presents a new one-step alkali heat treatment performed with a solution containing [Zn(OH)(4)](2-) complex as an alternative to the conventional NaOH solution.

The objective of this work is to assess the effect of a Zn-modified surface chemistry on bone-implant shear strength using a rabbit model.

The study was conducted on mechanical-grinded and smooth surfaces of Ti cylindrical implants. The topographical structure, chemical surface composition, and structural properties of the chemically modified titanium surface were studied by scanning electron microscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and x-ray diffractometry. Implant-bone shear strength was evaluated by push-out tests undertaken at 4, 12, and 24 weeks after insertion in rabbit femora.

Implants with smooth and rough surfaces chemically-modified with a solution containing [Zn(OH)(4)](2-) complex demonstrated significantly stronger bone fixation than nonmodified implants at all healing times (p < 0.05).

The obtained results suggest that biochemical bonding at the bone-implant interface, stimulated by the Zn(2+) ion release in combination with mechanical interlocking definitively improved the implant fixation.