EFFECT OF PROSTHETIC SUPERSTRUCTURE ACCURACY ON THE OSTEOINTEGRATED IMPLANT BONE INTERFACE

Objective. This study evaluated the biologic result of forces induced by a misfitting prosthetic superstructure on implants placed in a New Zealand white rabbit tibia model. Study design. Nine rabbits had two d ental implants placed in both right and left proximal tibias. After 6 weeks, one animal was sacrificed for baseline integration data, and th e remaining animals had fitting or misfitting prosthetic superstructur es attached to the implants for 12 weeks. Implants were evaluted clini cally, radiographically, and histomorphometrically at the scanning ele ctron microscopic level. Results, No clinical, radiographic, or histom orphometric evidence exists of integration failure with implants subje cted to superstructure strain, although bone remodeling is noted. Conc lusions, Given the limitations of sample size, animal model used, dura tion of prosthetic superstructure attachment, and loading confounders possible, the study of prosthetic framework misfit must be evaluated w ith another animal model, such as an intraoral primate model, to deter mine the relationship between clinical performance and histologic find ings.