INFLUENCE OF SOFT-TISSUE CONTAMINATION ON THE INTEGRATION OF TITANIUMIMPLANTS - AN EXPERIMENTAL-STUDY IN RABBITS

In the present study, the influence of peroperative soft tissue contam ination on the healing of titanium implants was studied in 9 lop-eared rabbits. Titanium implants (Branemark System(R)) were inserted in the tibiae, a location with cortical bone only, in such a way that one gr oup was inserted the standard way (control), and another group was con taminated for 30 s in the adjacent soft tissues, prior to insertion. T he implants were allowed to heal for 12 weeks and were then retrieved together with surrounding bone, fixed, dehydrated and embedded in plas tic resin. About 10 mu m thick ground sections were prepared for light microscopic morphometry. The mineralized bone-to-titanium contact, an d the amount of bone occupying the threads, were calculated for each i mplant, and the results of the two groups were compared. All retrieved implants were clinically stable at the end of the experiment. Regardi ng bone-to-titanium contact and bone area within the threads, a statis tically nonsignificant difference was observed between the 2 groups. T his study indicated that peroperative soft tissue contamination of c.p . titanium implants does not prevent osseointegration from occurring, when studied in the rabbit tibia. (C) Munksgaard, 1996.