Purpose: To evaluate the osseointegration at the coronal and apical threaded parts of Trabecular
Metal (TM) dental implants using micro-CT and comparing it to Tapered Screw Vent (TSV) dental
implants.
Materials and methods: Ten rabbits were included in this study. Each rabbit received one
TM implant (3.7 × 10 mm) inserted into the right distal femoral condyle as a test group, and one
TSV implant of the same length and diameter inserted into the left distal femoral condyle as a
control. Two parts from each implant, the apical and coronal threaded parts to the porous tantalum
trabecular material, were selected for the analysis using micro CT.
Results: There were significantly higher mean values for the amount of bone implant contact
and bone volume at the apical part of the TM implants when compared with the TSV implants,
while there was no significant difference at the coronal part.
Conclusion: The presence of the porous tantalum trabecular material more toward the apical
part have created a favourable osteoconductive environment that has reflected on a higher amount
of bone implant contact and bone volume at the apical threaded part of the TM implants than that
of the equivalent part of the TSV implants.