Morphostructural relationships between bone and implant: comparative analyses by optical microscopy and...

This study assessed the relationship between the surfaces of a hollow cylindrical titanium implant and the consequent bone organization around it. A human bone maxillary specimen was taken that enclosed an implant which had lasted 28 months under prosthetic loading. The implant was removed because of fracture that prevented the implant from being used as a supporting element for new prosthetic aims. The bone block-section was fixed and embedded, several sections were obtained, and each section was analyzed using three different histologic analyses: optical microscopy under ordinary light and polarized light, and microradiography. Comparative analyses were required on every single section to provide a complete morphostructural analysis of the peri-implant bone. Data retrieved by this research showed the presence of woven bone in the bone layer facing the external implant surface several months after its surgical fitting and functionalization. This finding demonstrates the importance of woven bone, first as holding sheath in the immediate postsurgical stage, and second as a mold for the subsequent centripetal accrementition of secondary lamellar bone.