Biomimetic surface modification of dental implant for enhanced osseointegration

Abstract

The introduction of dental implants has changed the way dentists approach the replacement of missing teeth. The clinical success of dental implants is related to their early osseointegration, which is a property virtually unique to titanium and hydroxyapatite (HA). Our work has proved the feasibility of creating a nanotextured surface on titanium by simple acid/alkali treatment. The surface roughness can be tailored by modifying the etching/ polishing procedures. Besides we have demonstrated that the cell adhesion can be increased by coating the titanium surface with nanofibers. Through our advanced electrospinning set-up we have achieved more fiber deposition at a shorter interval of time than conventional electrospinning. Moreover we have shown that the adhesion efficiency of the human bone marrow derived MSCs was the maximum on the biomineralized PLGA/Collagen nanofibers coated Ti compared to the other samples. Furthermore, incorporation of biomolecular cue like collagen and nano-HA have enhanced the cell proliferation, osteogenic differentiation and cell mineralization. Thus the healing time can be reduced, leading to enhanced initial osseointegration. To our knowledge, functionalized nanofiber treated dental implant is novel idea to enhanced osseointegration using bone regeneration concept, showing great promise for potential clinical applications.