Surface modification of zirconia dental implants by laser texturing.

Abstract

The aim of this work was to perform an integrative literature review on the influence of laser irradiation on zirconia implants to enhance surface topographic aspects and the biological response forosseointegration. An electronic search was carried out on the PubMed database using the following search terms: "zirconia" AND "laser" AND "surface modification" OR "surface treatment" AND "dental implants" OR "bone" OR "osteoblast" OR "osseointegration." Of the identified articles, 12 studies were selected in this review. Results reported that the laser irradiation was capable of promotingchanges on the zirconia surfaces regarding topographic aspects, roughness, and wettability. An increase in roughness was recorded at micro- and nano-scale and it resulted in an enhancedwettability and biological response. Also, adhesion, spreading, proliferation, and differentiation of osteogenic cells werealso enhanced after laser irradiation mainly by using a femtosecond laser at 10nJ and 80MHz. After 3months of osseointegration, in vivo studies in dogs revealed a similar average percentage of bone-to-implant contact (BIC) on zirconia surfaces (around 47.9 ± 16%) when compared to standard titanium surfaces (61.73 ±16.27%), denotingthat there is no significant difference between suchdifferent materials. The laser approach revealed several parameters that can be used for zirconia surface modification such as irradiationintensity, time, and frequency. Laser irradiationparameters can be optimized and well-controlled to reach desirable surface morphologic aspects and biological response concerning the osseointegration process.