ABSTRACT

The study was designed to exploit the single photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) to compare osteoblastic activity of two implant systems: an Endopore^® implant (Beaded implants) placed immediately into an extraction socket in conjunction with peri-implant autogenous grafting supplemented with a guided tissue regeneration (GTR) technique, and an Endopore^® implant placed immediately into the extraction socket without peri-implant grafting and GTR.  Endopore^® implants of the same size (12 mm x 4.1 mm INT-Hex) were placed in fresh extraction sockets in the canine-tooth region of the pigs jaw.  The implant on the right side had peri-implant bone grafting utilizing autogenous bone together with cytoplast resorbable GTR membrane, whilst the implant on the left side received no peri-implant bone grafting.

Osteoblastic activity was evaluated 81 days (11 weeks and 4 days) post implantation using the SPECT imaging technique. The SPECT imaging revealed more osteoblastic activity on the side with peri-implant bone grafting as compared with the site without peri-implant bone grafting. The result suggests that peri-implant bone grafting with GTR around the immediate implant showed more osteoblastic activity and thus enhanced osseointegration when compared with the implant without bone grafting and GTR. Bone grafting and GTR should be encouraged as a standard procedure with dental implants.