The Effect of Substrate Roughness and Hydroxyapatite Coating Thickness on Implant Shear Strength

This study examined the role of substrate preparation and hydroxyapatite (HA) coating thickness on bone ongrowth and shear strength in a bilateral bicortical sheep model. Plasma-sprayed and grit-blasted titanium implants with different thickness HA coatings were examined at 4, 8, 12, and 26 weeks after implantation. Shear strength increased with time for all implants. Plasma-sprayed implants were superior to grit-blasted implants at all time points. The 100-μm-thick HA layer used in the present study provided greater fixation and ongrowth and less resorption compared with the 50-μm-thick layer. We did not observe any advantage in using a thicker HA coating for the titanium substrates examined.