Peri-implant hard and soft tissue integration to dental implants made of titanium and gold

Objectives: The aim of the study is to compare the peri-implant hard and soft tissue integration around dental implants made of commercially pure (c.p.) titanium or a gold alloy but with the same shape and surface roughness. Material and methods: In four beagle dogs, all mandibular premolars were extracted. Three months later, four experimental non-submerged implants were placed in each edentulous premolar region. Each implant comprised three different zones: zone A (coronal), zone B (central) and zone C (apical). Each zone was made of either c.p. titanium or a gold alloy. Four different combinations of metal and zone were used. A plaque control program was initiated and 6 months later, the animals were sacrificed and biopsies were obtained. The biopsies including the implant and the surrounding tissues were processed for ground sectioning. Results: The height of the peri-implant mucosa and the length of the barrier epithelium were similar at the four experimental sites. The marginal bone level in the different metal combinations was located between 4.5 and 4.8 mm apical of the implant rim. The percent of mineralized bone that was in direct contact with the implant surface (BIC%) was consistently greater in the marginal than in the apical portion of the implants. The BIC% for the marginal and apical zone were consistently greater for implant portions made of titanium than for portions made of gold alloy (zone B: 42.7% vs. 36.5%, zone C: 33.2% vs. 19%). Conclusions: Osseointegration was achieved to surfaces made of both c.p. titanium and a gold alloy. BIC% was higher at titanium than at gold surfaces. Moreover, the peri-implant soft tissue dimensions were not influenced by the metal used in the 'marginal' zone of the implant.