STRUCTURE OF THE INTERFACE BETWEEN RABBIT CORTICAL BONE AND IMPLANTS OF GOLD, ZIRCONIUM AND TITANIUM

The role of surface properties (chemical and structural) for the inter action between biomaterials and tissue is not yet understood. In the p resent study, implants made of titanium, zirconium (transition metals with surface oxides) and gold (metallic surface) were inserted into th e rabbit tibia. Light microscopic (LM) morphometry showed that after 1 and 6 mo the gold implants had less amount of bone within the threads and a lower degree of bone-implant contact than the titanium and zirc onium implants, which did not differ from each other. These quantitati ve differences were supported by LM and ultrastructural observations o f the interface. The ultrastructural observations in addition demonstr ated that the layer of non-collagenous amorphous material located betw een the implant and the calcified bone was appreciably thicker around zirconium than around titanium implants. The factors potentially respo nsible for the observed morphological differences in the bone around t he different material surfaces are discussed.