Simulated Body Fluids for Dental Implant Corrosion: A Practical Guide.

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Corrosion Engineering
• Dental Materials

Background:

• Inconsistent reporting of electrolytes for in vitro corrosion testing of metallic dental implants hinders accurate behavior assessment.
• Simulated oral fluids and bone-implant interface electrolytes are critical but inconsistently formulated and justified in literature.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compile and compare electrolytes used in simulating the oral cavity and bone-implant interface for dental implants.
• To link electrolyte chemical composition to targeted corrosion mechanisms in metallic dental implants.

Main Methods:

• Structured narrative review of peer-reviewed literature on simulated electrolytes for metallic dental implant corrosion testing.
• Literature search included artificial saliva, physiological fluids, challenge chemistries, protein media, hydrodynamic, and microbiological models.
• Formulations were standardized and grouped by application domain and targeted corrosion mechanisms.

Main Results:

• Electrolyte selection was mapped to corrosion modes: uniform dissolution, pitting, crevice, galvanic, and microbiologically influenced corrosion.
• pH, halide concentration, calcium-phosphate balance, proteins, gas control, and flow conditions influence passive-film stability and metal-ion release.
• Identified gaps include lack of standardized fluoride-pH matrix and limited guidance for microbiome assays.

Conclusions:

• Aligning electrolyte formulations with research questions improves reproducibility and mechanistic interpretation.
• Caution is advised when interpreting in vitro corrosion data due to insufficient links to clinical outcomes like peri-implantitis.
• Adopting shared reporting standards and dynamic chemistries can enhance the translational value of future corrosion studies.