Porous ceramic materials as immediate root implants

Abstract

The alveolar ridge may be preserved by using the natural roots as support for overdentures, by augmentation using autologous bone and by root implantation using various ceramic materials. The aim of this investigation was to provide more information about the tissue response to porous alumina and hydroxyapatite ceramic implants placed in guinea-pig incisor sockets. Bone growth penetrated the spaces in both types of implant although the growth of fibrous tissue was particularly evident around alumina implants. However, the difference in the amount of new bone formed in the two types of implant became less with time. The naturally healing tooth socket filled with bone more rapidly than that when an implant was present. Periosteal remodelling was also more marked in the naturally healing tooth socket compared with the socket after the tooth was replaced by an implant. The different types of response observed with alumina and apatite suggested that the more fibrous response could be a reaction to the alumina which was not so marked with apatite which induced bone formation at an earlier stage. Satisfactory implantation requires that the anchorage of the implant with the socket is adequate, both fibrous and osseous interlocking appeared to be adequate in this study. Studies of the strength of the interlock between implant and bone are continuing.