Histomorphometric Comparison of Transmandibular Implant and Titanium Implant.

This study was a histomorphometric comparison of the transmandibular implant (TMI) system and titanium implant using a confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM). Two dogs were used. In each dog, 16 implant holes were made in the bilateral mandibular angle. Four cortical screws in the TMI, four titanium plasma spray (TPS) implants, and four hydroxyapatite (HA) coating implants were inserted and four holes were left as a control. Two dogs were sacrificed at 3 and 6 months. The samples were cut longitudinally and examined under CLSM. The contact rate of trabecular bone was smaller than that of cortical bone in all implants. The contact rates in TMI at 3 and 6 months was significantly smaller than those of TPS and HA and there was no difference between TPS and HA. Although the contact rate of TMI was low, only a small contact area may be enough for TMI because of its box form structure.