Enhanced Bone Bonding to Nanotextured Implant Surfaces at a Short Healing Period: A Biomechanical Tensile Testing in the Rat Femur

Purpose: To compare the bone bonding capabilities of 2 different surface treatments at an early healing period. Titanium alloy (Ti6Al4V) custom-made rectangular plates (1.4 x 2.4 x 4 mm) were either dual acid etched (Ti6Al4V-DAE) or nanotextured proprietary processed Ti6Al4V-Ossean (intraLock International, Boca Raton, FL). Materials and Methods: Implants were placed in the distal femurs of 10 Wistar rats and were allowed to heal for 9 days. After euthanasia, the bone immediately proximal and distal to the implant was removed to test the bone bonding force with a universal testing machine. Ultrastructure of the bone/implant interface was assessed by scanning electron microscopy. Results: Ti6Al4V-NTB samples exhibited significantly greater bond strength than Ti6Al4V-DAE samples. Morphologically, the Ti6Al4V-Ossean surfaces presented intimate interaction with bone, whereas little interaction between the Ti6Al4V-DAE surface and bone was observed. Conclusion: The results of this study indicated a significant increase in bone bonding for the Ossean surface, which is suggested to be the outcome of the nanotexturing.