Morphology and microchemistry study of three commercial dental implants

Titanium and its alloys are widely employed in commercial dental devices. Because the surface morphology and chemical composition of Ti-based dental implants play a relevant role in osseointegration, three different commercial threaded implants have been investigated by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spec- troscopy (XPS). The Implants A and C were made of pure Ti whereas the Implant B was made of Ti6Al4V alloy. Obtained results evidenced the common features and dif- ferences due to specific process parameters used in the treatments of mordanting and sandblasting for surface roughening. Implant A exhibits a uniform surface cov- ered by very small dimples of about 1-2 ?m. The surface of Implant B is not homoge- neous: The thread tops present an irregular morphology (dimples size >10 ?m) while finer dimples (about 1 ?m) are observed along the thread flanks and valleys. Implant C shows an irregular morphology with dimples of different sizes and shapes distrib- uted on thread tops, flanks, and valleys. XPS analyses revealed the presence of metal oxides: TiO2 in all the implants; Al2O 3 and V2 O5 only in the implant B. Moreover, these results demonstrated that Mg2SiO 4 is present on the surface of Implant A, probably due to a specific preparation process. Obtained results have been discussed on the basis of the factors promoting the osseointegration.