The Mineral Apposition Rate on Implants with Either a Sandblasted Acid-Etched Implant Surface (SLA) or a Nanostructured Calcium-Incorporated Surface (XPEED ® ): A Histological Split-Mouth, Randomized Case/Control Human Study.

This study aimed to histologically evaluate the effects of XPEED ® and SLA surface on the mineral apposition rate (MAR) at 3 and 5 weeks in titanium dental implants placed in human bone. In total, 17 titanium dental implants with XPEED ® surface ( n = 9) used as test and SLA surface ( n = 8) used as control were included in this study. Each patient received four doses of tetracycline 500 mg at 12 h intervals 2 weeks prior to biopsy retrieval. Implant retrieval was performed, and retrieved biopsies were carefully treated for histomorphometric evaluation under epifluorescence microscopy. At 3 and 5 weeks, newly formed bone appeared in direct contact with both types of tested surfaces. At 3 weeks, the MAR value was, respectively, 2.0 (±0.18) μm/day for XPEED ® implants and 1.5 (±0.10) μm/day for SLA implants ( p = 0.017). At 5 weeks, lower MAR values for both XPEED ® and SLA implants were noted, with 1.2 (±0.10) μm/day and 1.1 (±0.10) μm/day, respectively ( p = 0.046). The overall evaluation by linear regression analysis for both time and implant surfaces showed a decreased osteoblast activity at 5 weeks compared to 3 weeks ( p < 0.005). The results of the present study show that the bone apposition rate occurs faster around implants with XPEED ® surface at 3 weeks and 5 weeks of healing. MAR values may support the use of implants with XPEED ® surfaces in early loading protocols.