Improvement of osseointegration efficacy of titanium implant through plasma surface treatment

A novel plasma treatment source for generating cylindrical plasma on the surface of titanium dental implants is developed herein. Using the titanium implant as an electrode and the packaging wall as a dielectric barrier, a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma was generated, allowing the implant to remain sterile. Numerical and experimental investigations were conducted to determine the optimal discharge conditions for eliminating hydrocarbon impurities, which are known to degrade the bioactivity of the implant. XPS measurement confirmed that plasma treatment reduced the amount of carbon impurities on the implant surface by approximately 60%. Additionally, in vitro experiments demonstrated that the surface treatment significantly improved cell adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation. Collectively, we proposed a plasma treatment source for dental implants that successfully removes carbon impurities and facilitate the osseointegration of SLA implants.

Results of a XPS analysis, b protein adsorption, c cell proliferation, and d ALP activity for SLA and SLA + Plasma samples.
* P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, and *** P < 0.001 (Unpaired student’s t-test. Each SLA + Plasma data was compared to the corresponding SLA data.)