Osseointegration Factors: Bone and Implant Contact
Osseointegration of dental implants is simply the connection of the implant to the jaw bone. By that, certain variables play their respective roles critical to implant success.
Firstly, the biomaterials. Titanium alloy was the first and till now the most used material for implants. It’s a light metal with excellent biocompatibility, relatively high stiffness and high resistance to corrosion. Other metals are zirconium and gold which make strong implants but have poor bone-to-implant contact. Bioceramics are another; they have low strength but with excellent biocompatibility and capacity to integrate with hard tissue and living bone. They are currently used as plasma-sprayed coatings onto a metallic core. Secondly, there’s implant design.
Subtle changes in shape, length, and width of the implants could influence success rates. Length and diameter have an influence on the stress distribution at the bone-implant interface; longer implants have better success rates and wider implants allow for interaction with a larger amount of bone. Where geometrical designs are concerned, cylindrical screw threaded implants are found to perform better under stress.
There are biomechanical factors as well, which impacts stability. Aside from length and diameter mentioned, load transfer mechanisms, material properties, quality and quantity of surrounding bone, masticatory forces, as well as surgical trauma or bacterial infection can all affect stability. Surface characteristics refers to quality of the implant surface, of which the right degree of roughness can ensure a high percentage of bone-implant contact.
Another factor is bone quantity, where the more bone that is present at an implant site, the better the possibility for implant success. Surgical technique also plays a role in osseointegration, where the specialist must be well trained on the safe and successful placement and maintenance of dental implants. Finally, the patient’s medical status.
Patient’s health conditions and bone quality are important determinants of dental implant survival. In healthy patients, the success rates range between 90-95% at 10 years.
Perfect Osseointegration with Bellevue Dental Implants
Know more about perfect contact of dental implants and your own bone. We at Overlake Dental in Bellevue adhere to best practices in dental implantology, aiming for high patient success rates because we mind our factors.