Clinical Evaluation of Laser Microtexturing for Soft Tissue and Bone Attachment to Dental Implants

Introduction: A tapered dental implant (Laser-Lok [LL] surface treatment) with a 2 mm wide collar, that has been laser micromachined in the lower 1.5 mm to preferentially accomplish bone and connective tissue attachment while inhibiting epithelial downgrowth, was evaluated in a prospective, controlled, multicenter clinical trial. Materials: Data are reported at measurement periods from 1 to 37 months postoperative for 20 pairs of implants in 15 patients. The implants are placed adjacent to machined collar control implants of the same design. Measurement values are reported for bleeding index, plaque index, probing depth, and crestal bone loss. Results: No statistical differences are measured for either bleeding or plaque index. At all measurement periods there are significant differences in the probing depths and the crestal bone loss differences are significant after 7 months (P Discussion: The consistent difference in probing depth between LL and control implant demonstrates the formation of a stable soft-tissue seal above the crestal bone. LL limited the crestal bone loss to the 0.59 mm range as opposed to the 1.94 mm crestal bone loss reported for control implant. The LL implant was found to be comparable with the control implant in safety endpoints plaque index and sulcular bleeding index. There is a nonstatistically significant suggestion that the LL crestal bone retention superiority is greater in the maxilla than the mandible.