Bone Under Pressure: Investigating Micromovement Induced by Dental Implant Loading

Approximately 12 million dental implants are placed globally each year, with almost 50% experiencing complications related to bone loss. Progressive bone loss can lead to implant failure and its associated consequences. While it has historically been associated with the bacterial biofilm on the implant, emerging evidence from previous in vitro experiments conducted by our group at the ESRF suggest that biomechanical factors, such as particle abrasion from the implant and/or the elastic and plastic deformation of the implant upon loading, might also influence the biological changes of the adjacent tissue. To the best of our knowledge, the phenomenon of micromovement of dental implants within human bone remains unexplored. Consequently, this proof-of-concept study aims to investigate the mechanisms induced in the surrounding bone of osseointegrated implants subjected to varying loads using synchrotron-based tomography.

全球每年约植入1200万颗牙种植体，其中近50%会出现与骨丢失相关的并发症。进行性骨丢失可能导致种植体失败及其相关后果。虽然历史上认为这与种植体表面的细菌生物膜有关，但我们团队在ESRF开展的前期体外实验的新证据表明，生物力学因素（如种植体的颗粒磨损和/或加载时种植体的弹塑性变形）也可能影响邻近组织的生物学变化。据我们所知，牙种植体在人骨内的微动（micromovement）现象尚未被探索。因此，本概念验证研究旨在利用同步辐射断层扫描技术（synchrotron-based tomography），探究负载变化下骨结合种植体周围骨组织中诱发的机制。