Histologic and Histomorphometric Comparison of Immediately Placed Hydroxyapatite-Coated and Titanium Plasma-Sprayed Implants: A Pilot Study in Dogs

The purpose of this pilot study was to make a histologic and histomorphometric comparison of hydroxyapatite- (HA) coated and titanium plasma-sprayed (TPS) root-form implants that were placed in 2 mongrel dogs immediately after extraction of mandibular premolars. After 8 weeks of healing, the implant-containing segments of the mandible were removed en bloc and bone blocks including implants were sectioned. Histologic and histomorphometric analyses were performed by evaluating bone sections. The mean bone contact percentage of HA-coated implants was 61.84 ± 7.84%, with a range of 52.09% to 75.7%, and the mean bone contact percentage of TPS implants was 51.35 ± 12.1%, with a range of 30.1% to 70.6%. This pilot study suggests that HA-coated implants placed into fresh extraction sockets can achieve better bone contact than TPS implants, but there was evidence that the surface of the HA layer can be resorbed, so long-term stability of HA coatings in immediate implantation must be investigated.