Osseointegration of a 3D Printed Stemmed Titanium Dental Implant: A Pilot Study

Figure 4

H&E staining highlights histological changes in the tibial bone after implantation of the SIT implant (d, e, f, g, h) or control implant (a, b, c) for a duration of 3 weeks (a, d, e) or 12 weeks (b, c, f, g, h). The metal implants have been removed. (a) At 3 weeks post implantation, bone debris is present between the control implant and cortical bone. (b) At 12 weeks post implantation, the cortical bone surrounding the control implant has active bone remodeling at the bone-metal interface (c) which involves osteoclasts (arrow). However, the cortical bone is being actively remodeled (double-headed arrow) around the site of the SIT implant (d) after 3 weeks. At higher magnification (e), multinucleated osteoclasts (black arrows) and hypertrophied osteoblasts (white arrows) participate in bone remodeling. (f) At 12 weeks post implantation, the SIT implant is encased in the cortical bone (arrowheads) which at higher magnification (h) has the morphology of a mature bone (double-headed arrow). The remodeling of the bone surrounding the SIT implant is still active (g) and involves osteoclasts (black arrow) and hypertrophied osteoblasts (white arrows). CTRL = control, SIT = stemmed implant, CB = cortical bone, and BD = bone debris.

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