Advanced Dental Implant Preforms with Customized Compositional and Porosity Gradients for Improved Stress Shielding and Osseointegration
摘要
Dental implants have emerged as the preferred treatment for missing teeth rehabilitation, offering a superior alternative solution. However, implant failure remains a serious clinical challenge for the scientific community, often attributed to multifactorial causes. Among these, the manufacturing methods and chemical composition of implants play a crucial role in determining their success. This study explores the fabrication of dental implant preforms using commercially pure titanium (c.p. Ti) and two titanium alloys, Ti6Al4V and Ti35Nb7Zr5Ta, known for their exceptional biocompatibility and corrosion resistance. Two fabrication techniques were employed: conventional powder metallurgy (PM) combined with the spacer route and the loose sintering method. The resulting cylindrical preforms were designed with compositional and porosity gradients tailored to the anatomical regions in contact with the implant. These preforms were characterized for microstructural properties using image analysis, the Archimedes´ method, and semi-quantitative elemental analysis using EDX-SEM. Mechanical properties were estimated using microstructural data and the Nielsen equation. Subsequently, the preforms were micro-machined into dental implants, achieving optimized geometries. The results demonstrated that both are feasible methods, producing implants with improved mechanical properties and porosity gradients. This study represents a significant advancement in the development of dental implants, offering custom properties to optimize their clinical performance and address the persistent issue of implant failure.