Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 12, 2026
An Improved Mechanical Testing Method to Assess Bone-implant Anchorage
Published on: February 10, 2014
Mechanical anchorage and peri-implant bone formation of surface-modified zirconia in minipigs
Henning Schliephake1, Thomas Hefti, Falko Schlottig
1Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, George-Augusta-University, Göttingen, Germany. schliephake.henning@med.unigoettingen.de
Aim:
To test the hypothesis that peri-implant bone formation and mechanical stability of surface-modified zirconia and titanium implants are equivalent.
Materials And Methods:
Twelve minipigs received three types of implants on either side of the mandible 8 weeks after removal of all pre-molar teeth: (i) a zirconia implant with a sandblasted surface; (ii) a zirconia implants with a sandblasted and etched surface; and (iii) a titanium implant with a sandblasted and acid-etched surface that served as a control. Removal torque and peri-implant bone regeneration were evaluated in six animals each after 4 and 13 weeks.
Results:
The titanium surface was significantly rougher than both tested zirconia surfaces. Mean bone to implant contact (BIC) did not differ significantly between the three implant types after 4 weeks but was significantly higher for titanium compared with both zirconia implants after 13 weeks (p<0.05). Bone volume density (BVD) did not differ significantly at any interval. Removal torque was significantly higher for titanium compared with both zirconia surfaces after 4 and 13 weeks (p<0.001). The sandblasted and etched zirconia surface showed a significantly higher removal torque after 4 weeks compared with sandblasted zirconia (p<0.05); this difference levelled out after 13 weeks.
Conclusions:
It is concluded that all implants achieved osseointegration with similar degrees of BIC and BVD; however, titanium implants showed a higher resistance to removal torque, probably due to higher surface roughness.
