THRESHOLDS FOR TACTILE SENSITIVITY PERCEIVED WITH DENTAL IMPLANTS REMAIN UNCHANGED DURING A HEALING PHASE OF 3 MONTHS

The aim of the present study was to determine the tactile pressure thr esholds perceived with dental implants during a three-month healing ph ase following implant placement (osseointegration phase). The absolute threshold of tactile perception was measured in a group of patients 1 week, 1, 2 and 3 months following implant placement (ITI Dental Impla nt System, Straumann AG, Waldenburg, Switzerland). Contralateral and n eighbouring teeth were measured at the same time. For determination of the axial forces exerted on the implants and teeth, an electronic dev ice with semiconductor strain gauges was used (Hammerle et al. 1995). The results demonstrated mean thresholds of tactile perception for the implants of 160.2 g (SD 61.7 g, range 77 similar to 283 g) at 1 week, 133.4 g (SD 51.9 g, range 32 similar to 239 g) at 1 month, 147.9 g (S D 53.5 g, range 70 similar to 257 g) at 2 months, and 146.9 g (SD 57.4 g, range 77 similar to 248 g) at 3 months. Statistical analysis using Student's paired t-test revealed no significant differences between t he values over time. The control teeth exhibited mean values for tacti le perception of 13.1 g (SD 9.6 g, range 5 similar to 47 g) at 1 week, 10.2 g (SD 6.4 g, range 4 similar to 29 g) at 1 month, 14.8 g (SD 15. 9 g, range 2 similar to 58 g) at 2 months, and 15.4 g (SD 12.2 g, rang e 3 similar to 36 g) at 3 months. Again, these values did not differ s ignificantly from each other and indicated the absence of systemic alt erations in perceived pressure threshold over the observation period. The mean perceived pressure threshold was more than 10 times higher fo r implants than for natural teeth (P<0.001) at all observation times. It is concluded that the absolute threshold of tactile perception with dental implants during the phase of osseointegration is not affected by bone and soft tissue healing taking place during the time period.