SUPRACRESTAL BONE-GROWTH AROUND PARTIALLY INSERTED TITANIUM IMPLANTS IN DOGS - A PILOT-STUDY

8 titanium implants (Nobel Biocare, Goteborg, Sweden) were inserted in to edentulous lower premolar areas of 4 dogs so that 6 threads of the implant protruded from the bone crest. Newly-developed perforated dome -shaped titanium space maintainers were fixed to the implant with cove r screws. Autogenous bone fragments were placed under the space mainta iners. On one side of the arch, the space maintainer was covered with a non resorbable cell occluding barrier. The implant/space maintainers were submerged under coronally positioned flaps. Following a 3-month healing period, there was a mean gain of new bone amounting to 2.5 mm for all specimens. A greater height of bone was found for those sites in which an ePTFE membrane was used; 3.1 mm vs. 1.9 mm (p<0.05). This study demonstrated the potential of coronal bone growth of the alveola r bone in a protected space around screw implants with exposed treads when placed in the dog.