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.

全球每年约有1200万例牙科种植体植入手术，其中近50%会出现与骨丢失相关的并发症。进行性骨丢失可导致种植体失败及其相关不良临床结局。尽管此类并发症既往被认为与种植体表面的细菌生物膜（bacterial biofilm）相关，但我们团队在欧洲同步辐射光源（ESRF）开展的既往体外实验（in vitro experiments）所得出的新兴研究证据表明，生物力学因素——例如种植体产生的颗粒磨耗，或负载下种植体的弹性与塑性变形——或同样会影响邻近组织的生物学改变。据我们所知，牙科种植体在人体骨骼内的微动现象迄今仍未被探索。因此，本概念验证研究旨在借助同步辐射断层成像技术（synchrotron-based tomography），探究承受不同负载的骨整合种植体（osseointegrated implants）周围骨组织内所诱发的作用机制。