Abstract

The aim of this preliminary study was to evaluate the influence of a sandblasted acid-etched surface on bone-implant contact percentage (BIC%) as well as the bone density in the threads area (BD%) in type 4 bone after 2 months of unloaded healing. Five subjects (mean age = 42.6 years) received 2 microimplants each during conventional implant surgery in the posterior maxilla. The microimplants with commercially pure titanium surface (machined) and sandblasted acid-etched surface served as the control and test surfaces, respectively. After a healing period of 2 months, the microimplants and the surrounding tissue were removed and prepared for ground sectioning and histomorphometric analysis. One microimplant with a machined surface was found to be clinically unstable at the time of retrieval. Histometric evaluation indicated mean BIC% was 20.66 ± 14.54% and 40.08 ± 9.89% for machined and sandblasted acid-etched surfaces, respectively (P = .03). The BD% was 26.33 ± 19.92% for machined surface and 54.84 ± 22.77% for sandblasted acid-etched surface (P = .015). Within the limits of this study, the data suggest that the sandblasted acid-etched implant surface presented a higher percentage of bone-implant contact compared with machined surfaces, under unloaded conditions in posterior maxilla after a healing period of 2 months.