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Potential Bone to Implant Contact Area of Short Versus Standard Implants: An In Vitro Micro-Computed Tomography
Alessandro Quaranta1, Orlando DʼIsidoro, Fabrizio Bambini
1*Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Dentistry, Division of Periodontology, Deptartment of Oral Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. †Resident and Adjunct Professor, School of Dentistry, University Politecnica delle Marche, School of Dentistry, Silvi, Italy. ‡Associate Professor, Division of Oral Surgery, School of Dentistry, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy. §Full Professor and Director of School of Dentale Hygiene, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy.
Aim:
To compare the available potential bone-implant contact (PBIC) area of standard and short dental implants by micro-computed tomography (μCT) assessment.
Methods:
Three short implants with different diameters (4.5 × 6 mm, 4.1 × 7 mm, and 4.1 × 6 mm) and 2 standard implants (3.5 × 10 mm and 3.3 × 9 mm) with diverse design and surface features were scanned with μCT. Cross-sectional images were obtained. Image data were manually processed to find the plane that corresponds to the most coronal contact point between the crestal bone and implant. The available PBIC was calculated for each sample. Later on, the cross-sectional slices were processed by a 3-dimensional (3D) software, and 3D images of each sample were used for descriptive analysis and display the microtopography and macrotopography.
Results:
The wide-diameter short implant (4.5 × 6 mm) showed the higher PBIC (210.89 mm) value followed by the standard (178.07 mm and 185.37 mm) and short implants (130.70 mm and 110.70 mm).
Conclusions:
Wide-diameter short implants show a surface area comparable with standard implants. Micro-CT analysis is a promising technique to evaluate surface area in dental implants with different macrodesign, microdesign, and surface features.
