Investigation on Laser Dental Implant Decontamination

During the last decades, the use of dental implants for tooth replacement became state of the art in dental prosthetic therapy. The high survival rate of osseointegrated dental implants is well documented, but it is becoming increasingly evident that even successfully integrated implants are susceptible to diseases that finally may lead to implant loss. One of the most frequent reasons for implant failure nowadays is periimplantitis caused by pathological inflammatory changes in the tissue being adjacent to a load bearing implant. Clinically it is associated with pocket formation, suppuration, bleeding and implant mobility. Numerous methods for implant surface decontamination have been suggested as a part of the surgical treatment of periimplantitis. Actually, decontamination of infected implant surfaces can be achieved very effectively by application of laser radiation. Hence, the purpose of our study was to evaluate suitable parameters for laser decontamination of titanium plasma-sprayed implant surfaces by employing laser pulses in the microsecond range generated by two laser systems (Diode and frequency-doubled Nd:YAG). In this paper the results for temperature development and surface morphology of different laser parameters and their clinical relevance and limitations are reported.