Nondecalcified Histologic Study of Bone Response to Titanium Implants Topographically Modified by Laser With and Without Hydroxyapatite Coating

Several reviews published during the last decade have concluded that implant surface roughness at a micrometer level influences cell response time.1–4 It is this relationship between a biologic medium and the surface of titanium that presents conditions that favor proliferation, nutrition, and bioadhesion, in which cells with an osteoblastic phenotype may undergo transformation, thus improving their physical, chemical, and mechanical properties.4 Consequently, diverse chemical and physical modifications are implemented to stimulate specific tissue responses. Blasting with different particles (sand, glass, aluminum oxide), acid etching, anodization, irradiation with highintensity laser,5–9 and other moderately roughened oral implants show a stronger bone response than turned or plasma-sprayed devices.10 The oxidation and nitration of a titanium surface with laser ablation is biocompatible and is deemed bio-inert by the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA); moreover, it increases the surface area and its wettability.6–9 In 2002, titanium implant surfaces were irradiated, at varying high temperatures, 1 Professor, Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, Mato Grosso, Brazil.