THE 3-DIMENSIONAL BONE INTERFACE OF AN OSSEOINTEGRATED IMPLANT .1. A MORPHOMETRIC EVALUATION IN INITIAL HEALING

Direct bone-implant interface as an indicator of endosseous implant su ccess appears to have been overinterpreted because 100% bone appositio n is not necessarily obtained at the surface of the endosseous dental implant, The purpose of this study was to obtain quantitative informat ion about the three-dimensional bone structure around three hydroxyapa tite-coated titanium alloy dental implants, implants were placed in th e mandible in three monkeys, and the surface bone contact ratio in the buccal, lingual, mesial, and distal directions was computed, Computer graphics were generated by the integration of data for serial ground surfaces obtained at 75 mu m intervals of the tissue block involved wi th the implant, The bone contact ratio of the whole surface of each of the three implants was 80.8%, 68.1%, and 68.8%, and the bone contact ratio for each direction and portion varied with the conditions of imp lant placement. The bone volume ratios around the implant at the 0 to 300 mu m zone were also calculated, and total ratios ranged from 58% t o 81%. These results may provide useful quantitative information about the bone structure around the hydroxyapatite-coated implants and cont ribute to the development of realistic finite element analysis models based on the biologic bone structure around the implants.