Effect of Surgical Techniques on Primary Implant Stability and Peri-Implant Bone

Purpose

To evaluate the primary stability of dental implants placed with condensing-osteotome versus drilling-osteotome techniques and to explore peri-implant mircromorphologic consequences of lateral bone condensing.

Materials and Methods

The experimental model designed for the study comprised bilateral iliac crests from 3 fresh frozen human cadavers. Two AstraTech dental implants (AstraTech AB, Mölndal, Sweden) were consecutively placed with condensing- and drilling-osteotome techniques in bone with a 10-mm interimplant distance. Six experimental bone sites received a total of 12 implants. Installation torque values (ITVs) and implant stability quotients (ISQs) were measured to quantify primary implant stability. Bone specimens including implants were removed to quantify the peri-implant relative bone volume and bone microstructural parameters in the 1-mm circular vicinity of implants using desktop computed tomography (microCT). The Mann-Whitney U test was used to evaluate the differences in primary implant stability values and microCT data for the surgical placement techniques.

Results

ITVs and ISQs were similar for both surgical placement techniques without statistical significance (P > .05). Relative bone volumes around implants placed with the condensing-osteotome technique were significantly (P < .05) higher than those around implants placed with the drilling-osteotome technique. Microstructural parameters, such as trabecular thickness, separation, and number, differed significantly between the 2 osteotome techniques.

Conclusions

Managing implant sites with the condensing-osteotome technique results in notable changes in peri-implant bone architecture but might not be as promising in improving primary implant stability compared with the drilling-osteotome technique.