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Updated: Aug 2, 2025
3D Planning and Printing of Patient Specific Implants for Reconstruction of Bony Defects
Published on: August 4, 2020
Sequential osseointegration of a novel implant system based on 3D printing in comparison with conventional titanium
Niklaus P Lang1,2, Jean-Claude Imber1, Kiri N Lang1
1Department of Periodontology, School of Dental Medicine, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Objectives:
To evaluate the sequential osseointegration of a novel titanium implant system based on a 3D printing technology in comparison with conventional titanium implants.
Material And Methods:
Two novel titanium implants based on 3D printing were tested in the mandible of eight Beagle dogs. As a control, two different commercially available titanium implants were used. The implants were staged to accommodate healing periods of 2 and 6 weeks. The primary outcome variable was bone-to-implant contact (BIC) in non-decalcified tissue sections and micro-CT analysis.
Results:
Histomorphometrically, the proportions of tissues adjacent to the implant surfaces were similar for all implants, whereas the BIC percentage of new mineralized bone was greater for the control implants after both 2 and 6 weeks (p < .05). Micro-CT analysis revealed increasing osseous volume and BIC from 2 to 6 weeks. In contrast to the histomorphometry, the BIC evaluation with the micro-CT data revealed a significantly higher BIC for the two test implants compared with controls (p < .001). The analysis of the total implant surface area disclosed a value that was approximately double as high for the test compared to the control implants.
Conclusions:
The novel titanium implant system based on 3D printing yielded values for osseointegration that were adequate and satisfactory. The higher percentage of new mineralized bone in the control implants is explained by the fact of a completely different three-dimensional surface area.
