Single‐crystal sapphire endosseous dental implant loaded with functional stress—clinical and histological evaluation of peri‐implant tissues

Peri-implant tissues of the single-crystal sapphire implant connected with neighbouring teeth by a metal bridge-work were examined clinically, radiographically, and histologically in ten monkeys. Professional tooth cleaning was performed during the study. At 3-12 months after insertion, most of the implants were firmly connected to the surrounding tissues and peri-implant gingiva was regarded as healthy, based on various periodontal parameter scores. Destructive changes of the peri-implant bone were not found radiographically. Histologically, peri-implant gingiva was revealed to show similar structure to that of the gingiva around natural teeth. Direct bone-implant interface was observed at 3 months after insertion, while a thin loose fibrous connective tissue layer was present between bone and implant at 6 and 12 months. Such different interrelationship between bone and implant might be attributable to the difference in distribution of functional stress.