The Effects of Laser Microtexturing of the Dental Implant Collar on Crestal Bone Levels and Peri-implant Health

Purpose: Polished and machined collars have been advocated for dental implants to reduce plaque accumulation and crestal bone loss. More recent research has suggested that a roughened titanium surface promotes osseointegration and connective tissue attachment. The purpose of this research was to compare crestal bone height adjacent to implants with laser-microtextured and machined collars from two different implant systems. Materials and Methods: Four implants, two with laser-microtextured collars and two with machined collars, were placed in the anterior mandible to serve as overdenture abutments. They were placed in alternating order, and the distal microtextured- and machined-collar implants were loaded with ball abutments. The mesial implants were left unloaded. The distal implants were immediately loaded with prefabricated dentures. Plaque Index, Bleeding Index, and probing depths (PDs) were measured after 6 and 12 months for the loaded implants. Bone loss for both groups (loaded and unloaded) was evaluated via standardized radiographs. Results: Plaque and bleeding values were similar for both implant types. The microtextured-collar implants showed shallower PDs (0.36 ± 0.5 mm and 0.43 ± 0.51 mm) than those with machined collars (1.14 ± 0.77 mm and 1.64 ± 0.93 mm; .05 for 6 and 12 months, respectively). At 6 and 12 months, respectively, the microtextured implants showed less crestal bone loss for both loaded (0.19 ± 0.15 mm and 0.42 ± 0.34 mm) and unloaded groups (0.15 ± 0.15 mm and 0.29 ± 0.20 mm) than the machined implants for both the loaded (0.72 ± 0.5 mm and 1.13 ± 0.61 mm) and unloaded groups (0.29 ± 0.28 mm and 0.55 ± 0.32 mm). Conclusion: Application of laser-microtextured grooves to the implant collar resulted in shallower PDs and less peri-implant crestal bone loss than that seen around implants with machined collars. Keywords: biologic width, crestal bone, implant collar, tissue engineering