Bone healing in titanium and zirconia implants surface: a pilot study on the rabbit tibia

Resumo

Zirconia has been considered an alternative material to
titanium for implant manufacturing, however the mechanisms regarding
to bone healing in presence of zirconia implants remains poorly known.
Objective: The objective of the investigation was to evaluate the bone
healing surrounding titanium and zirconia implants in rabbits after
7, 14, 30, 45 and 60 days of implant placement through histological
evaluation. Material and methods: Fifteen rabbits were used in this
study and randomly subdivided into 5 groups, according to experimental
periods. Titanium and zirconia implants were inserted into the right
and left tibia, respectively. After healing periods of 7, 14, 30, 45 and
60 days, animals were euthanatized, the implants were removed and
the samples were submitted to histological procedures. Results: Our
histological results demonstrated similar bone healing surrounding
titanium and zirconia implants after 7, 14 and 30 days after implant
placement. After 45 days, a trend towards to earlier bone maturation
was detected, remaining after 60 days. Inflammatory infiltrate, bone
resorption and foreign body reaction were not observed in any periods
and groups evaluated. Conclusion: Our findings demonstrated that
zirconia and titanium presented a similar pattern of bone healing.