Osseoinductive Surface Treatment for Dental Implants

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Despite recent major advances in dental implants, too often they fail because of inadequate osseointegration of the device with bone. Establishing and maintaining mature bone at the bone/device interface is critical to the success of the prosthesis. Lynntech, Inc., through related research involving titanium hip implants, has developed an electrolytic phosphate surface treatment that offers improved surface hardness and corrosion resistance as well as significantly enhances implant contact with bone and marrow at the substrate. The proposed Phase I research outlines a plan to investigate the technical features and advantages of Lynntech's surface treatment when applied under the specific conditions associated with dental implants. The modified surface of the dental implants to be fabricated during Phase I research will be composed of a uniform and relatively thick layer of incorporated phosphate ions. Optimizing the phosphate content of this layer will be an important part of the research effort in order to improve osseointegration at the surface and thus implant fixation. Phase I research will entail applying this new surface treatment to specific surgical titanium alloys followed by a series of dynamic in vitro wear, corrosion, cellular toxicity and cell adhesion/viability tests to evaluate pertinent dental implant parameters. The proposed surface treatment has the potential to enhance implant contact with bone at the surface and decrease interface fibrous tissue which has relevance for the short and long-term fixation of titanium dental implants. Lynntech's novel technique of phosphating titanium alloys is ideally suited to meet the key technical requirements for becoming a new surface modification for dental implant devices with significant implications for patient benefits. The relatively low capital costs and environmentally friendly nature of the proposed method make it suitable for use even in small dental clinics. It is estimated that the U.S. dental implant market will be approximately $370 million in 2003 and is expected to increase at a rate of 12 % per year over the next three of years.