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Updated: Jun 12, 2026
An Improved Mechanical Testing Method to Assess Bone-implant Anchorage
Published on: February 10, 2014
Histological, histomorphometrical, and radiological evaluation of an experimental implant design with a high
Joke Duyck1, Livía Corpas, Stephanie Vermeiren
1Department of Prosthetic Dentistry, BIOMAT Research Group, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. joke.duyck@med.kuleuven.be
Objectives:
The aim of this study was to compare bone behaviour around an experimental implant design with a high insertion torque with the Astra-Tech implant (control).
Materials And Methods:
In ten 18-month-old male minipigs, the last premolars and first molars were extracted to provide space for two implants in each quadrant. A first set of 40 implants were placed 3 months after the extraction and 40 additional implants were installed another 2 months later. The animals were sacrificed 3 months after the first implant installation so that half of the implants had healed for 1 month and the other half for 3 months. Radiological evaluation was performed at baseline, 1 month, 2 months, and 3 months after implant installation. Bone defect depth and area, bone level changes, bone-to-implant contact density, and peri-implant bone fraction were measured histomorphometrically.
Results:
Radiological analyses revealed a significantly higher bone loss around the experimental implants. Histomorphometric analyses confirmed significantly more bone loss, larger marginal bone defects, and a lower overall peri-implant bone fraction around the experimental implants.
Conclusion:
The experimental implant design caused significantly more peri-implant bone loss compared with the control implant. As strain gauge measurements indicate excessive marginal strains around the experimental implants, osseocompression might have played a role in the observed marginal bone loss.
