Roughness and topography of the implant surface
Micromorphological treatment of the implant surface is regarded as an important criterion for secure bone and soft-tissue attachment.
Clinical experience shows that most implant failures occur in the critical early phase of treatment, during the first eight weeks after the implant is placed. Given how rapidly the number of implant placements is growing, reducing the risks in that early phase is of increasingly central interest.
Micromorphological treatment of the implant surface is regarded as an important criterion for secure bone and soft-tissue attachment to the implant, and so for a firm hold. The composition, roughness and topography of the implant surface play an important part in primary stability (after placement and during healing) and secondary stability or osseointegration (after healing). Various techniques are available for structuring the surface of the endosseous part of the implant – the part that comes into contact with bone.
Additive processes: surface treatment with a titanium plasma spray.
Subtractive processes: the surface is roughened by blasting or etching.
The SLA surface (sandblasting with large grit followed by acid etching) is produced by coarse sandblasting. The result is a macro-roughness of the titanium surface. A strong acid bath lasting several minutes then follows in order to achieve an optimum implant surface and topography to which bone cells can bond. Shortly after its introduction the macro- and micro-structured, osteoconductive SLA® surface became the gold standard.
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