Histological evaluation of osseointegration between conventional and novel bone‐level tapered implants in healed bone—A preclinical study

Abstract

AbstractAimsTo histologically compare osseointegration and crestal bone healing between newly introduced tapered, self‐cutting bone‐level test implants and tapered bone‐level control implants in sites with fully healed sites.MethodsSixty‐six implants (33 test, 33 control) were placed 1 mm subcrestally in a minipig model and underwent qualitative histologic and quantitative histometric analyses after 3, 6 and 12 weeks of submerged healing. The primary and secondary outcomes were the bone‐to‐implant contact (BIC) and first bone‐to‐implant contact (fBIC). Outcomes between the test and control implants were statistically compared.ResultsThe BIC values of the test implants were comparable and non‐inferior over the time points studied, except for the 12 weeks time point which showed statistically significantly higher BIC values of the test (88.07 ± 5.35%) compared to the control implants (80.88 ± 7.51%) (p = .010). Similarly comparable and non‐inferior were the fBIC values, except for the 6‐week outcome, which showed statistically higher values for the test (−546.5 ± 450.80 μm) compared to the control implants (−75.7 ± 100.59 μm). fBIC results for the test implants were qualitatively more stable and consistent between test time points.ConclusionNovel self‐cutting bone‐level test implants demonstrated superior osseointegration and similar bone levels compared to conventional bone‐level implants after a healing period of 12 weeks in healed ridges.