OsseoSpeed™ is the implant with a chemically modified surface and a unique nanoscale topography. The OsseoSpeed implant has clearly improved results compared to earlier generations of implants. The following summaries of the pre-clinical and clinical scientific articles reveal the mechanisms behind the performance and clinical outcome.
A 24-week prospective study comparing the stability of titanium dioxide grit-blasted dental implants with or without fluoride treatment
The application of moderately rough surfaces along with other macro and micro-topographical changes to implants surfaces and design have resulted in an enhanced rate of osseointegration to improve the early stability of the implant. Recently socalled nan-otechnology has been applied to implant surfaces to further enhance this early stability and to speed up the rate of bone formation to yield an interface with higher shear strength. The use of a fluoride modified titanium gritblasted surface (OsseoSpeed™, Astra Tech) has shown promise in in vitro and animal experimental studies in this regard but little clinical data exists to support this contention.
Purpose: To compare fluoridemodified (FM) and unmodified (UM) titanium gritblasted implants with regard to early stability as measured by resonance frequency analysis (RFA) in a clinical prospective cohort over a 24-week period.
Materials and Methods: Twenty-seven systemically healthy edentulous patients seeking mandibular overdenture therapy were enrolled to the study. Patients received 2 dental implants in the mandibular canine positions, one FM (OsseoSpeed,) and one UM (TiOblast™, Astra Tech) placed on the left and right sides respectively and always the same dimension 4.5x13 mm. Surgery was performed according to manufacturer's protocol under antibiotic prophylaxis. All implants benefitted from transmucosal healing by connection of a healing abutment at the time of implant placement and tissues were sutured around each abutment. No denture was worn for one month after which a relined conventional denture was provided. Two weeks later dentures were connected to their respective implants via ball or Locator abutments.
Resonance frequency analysis (RFA) were performed at time of implant placement and then at weekly intervals from 1 to 6 weeks and at 12 and 24 weeks post-op using a calibrated magnetic peg device (Smartpeg Type 7, Integration Diagnostics) and the Ostell Mentor RFA analyzer (Integration Diagnostics) to record Implant Stability Quotient (ISQ) values. Results were subject to statistical analysis by analysis of variance and paired sample t-test to evaluate the presence of any differences between the implant surfaces
Results: All implants osseointegrated. There were no statistically significant differences in ISQ values at baseline for the two groups with means of 75.7 + 9.6 (UM) and 75.5 + 8.9 (FM). There were no significant changes in ISQ for FM implants while there was a significant decrease in ISQ values for UM implants to week 2 (70.8 + 16.9) with a subsequent rebound in values at week 3 (79.6 + 5.4). There were no significant differences between the groups at each time interval throughout the study period.
Discussion and Conclusion: RFA has been shown to provide insight into the stability of an implant such that very low ISQ values can be interpreted as evidence for an implant to be at risk of failure. Furthermore such vulnerable implants have been shown to demonstrate remarkable recovery in ISQ values when protected from functional loading or conditioned with progressive loading protocols.
At time of placement stability is derived purely from a mechanical relationship and values of 75 ISQ are typical and this study corroborates these findings. Thereafter early decreases in ISQ have been reported which coincide with the early remodeling that takes place at the bone-to-implant interface. This rela-tionship was certainly reflected in the UM implant group in this study which demonstrated a significant decrease in ISQ values for the two weeks following implant placement. However no such decrease was noted for the FM implant group whose ISQ values during that period were notably if not significantly higher than for the UM implants.
It is possible that in other regions of the mouth where the over-riding density of bone is lower that differences may be more noticeable, there is also a need for greater sample sizes with randomization of implant position which was lacking in the current study.
Nonetheless it can be concluded from the current study that the application of fluoride modification may further enhance osseointegration and lead to greater stability for the implant during the vulnerable early healing period.
Astra Tech
BioManagement Complex 
