Osseointegration of titanium alloy and HA‐coated implants in healthy and ovariectomized animals: a histomorphometric study

OBJECTIVES: The objective of the present study is to evaluate the response to dental implants in healthy and osteoporotic bone. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ten ovariectomized (OVX) New Zealand rabbits submitted to a hypocalcic diet and 10 sham-aged rabbits were used. All animals were submitted to bone mineral density (BMD) measurements before ovariectomy, and also 4 months afterwards, using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. The BMD measurements showed a significant loss of bone mass, between the first and second examinations, only in the experimental group (P<0.05). After the bone mass loss induction period, three different implants were installed in the proximal tibia metaphisis of each animal: a titanium alloy implant (Ti), a plasma-spray hydroxyapatite-coated implant (HA-PS), and another implant coated with hydroxyapatite with the biomimetic process (HA-B). RESULTS: After 3 months, histomorphometry showed a bone-to-implant contact (BIC) for Ti implants of 73.09+/-13.74% in healthy and 66.09+/-30.01% in OVX animals. The BIC for the HA-PS was 64.83+/-15.65% and 90.17+/-8.14% for healthy and OVX animals, respectively, and 88.66+/-5.30% and 87.96+/-10.71% for the HA-B implants placed in the same conditions. The differences between the implants in healthy and OVX conditions were not statistically significant (P>0.05). The only significant difference within groups was observed in the healthy animals between HA-B and Ti implants (P<0.06). CONCLUSION: Within the parameters used in this animal model it was not possible to observe BIC differences between osteoporotic and healthy animals.