Histomorphometric analysis of osseointegrated grade V titanium mini transitional implants inEdentulous mandible by backscattered scanning electron microscopy (BS-SEM)

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to assess the use of grade V titanium mini transitional implants(MTIs) immediately loaded by a temporary overdenture. For this, a histomorphometric analysisof the bone area fraction occupancy (BAFO) was performed by backscattered scanning electronmicroscopy (BS-SEM). Four female patients were submitted to surgery in which two MTIs wereinstalled and immediately loaded with a temporary acrylic prosthesis. During the same surgery,two regular diameter implants were placed inside the bone and maintained without mechanical load.After 8 months, the MTIs were extracted using a trephine and processed for ultrastructural boneanalysis by BS-SEM, and the regular-diameter implants were loaded with an overdenture device.A total of 243 BAFOs of MTIs were analyzed, of which 94 were mainly filled with cortical bone,while 149 were mainly filled with trabecular bone. Bone tissue analysis considering the total BAFOswith calcified tissues showed 72.13% lamellar bone, 26.04% woven bone, and 1.82% chondroid bonewithout significant differences between the samples. This study revealed that grade V titanium usedin immediately loaded MTI was successfully osseointegrated by a mature and vascularized bonetissue as assessed from the BAFO.