Titanium release from dental implants: an in vivo study on sheep

Abstract Titanium and its alloys release passive metal dissolution products. This raises the issues of the amount and fate of these products. In this study, we document titanium levels released from dental implants. We compared commercially pure titanium, titanium alloy (Ti6Al4V) and the effect of hydroxyapatite (HA) coating on dental implants. Seventeen screw type implants were inserted into the cortical bone of sheep's tibias. Bone and soft tissues (liver, spleen, kidney, lymph nodes and connective tissues) were harvested. Samples were analyzed for Ti content by proton induced X-ray emission (PIXE). Results from bone were compared with those obtained by the energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) on scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results suggest that bone remodeling may reduce the local accumulation of titanium.