Some soft tissue characteristics at implant abutments with different surface topography - A study in humans

Background: If an implant with a rough surface is exposed to the oral cavity, it may accumulate greater amounts of plaque than a smooth surface, which may lead to severe problems with mucositis and peri-implantitis. The purpose of the present paper was to investigate the early inflammatory response to mucosa-penetrating abutments prepared with varying surface roughness. Methods: Nine patients had all five of their original abutments exchanged to test abutments for a 4-week period. The test abutments were prepared with five different roughnesses. The surface roughness was measured with an optical profilometer. At the end of the test period, clinical evaluation was performed; the health of the surrounding mucosa, the amount of accumulated plaque and marginal bleeding were registered. One biopsy was taken from each test abutment. Qualitative and quantitative histological evaluations were performed. Results: There was a statistically significant difference between patients regarding the amount of accumulated plaque on the abutment surfaces and inflammatory cells, but no difference between the surface modifications in relation to plaque accumulation or number of inflammatory cells. Conclusion: No relation was found between inflammatory response and abutment surface roughness after an evaluation time of 4 weeks in a human test model.