Biomimetic Approach to Dental Implants

Titanium, as an implant material, is regarded to be durable and biocompatible, which allows functional replacement of missing teeth. Successful dental implantation depends on an osseointegration phenomenon, a direct structural and functional binding reaction between bone and implant. It is well known that physicochemical characteristics of the dental implant surface, such as roughness, topography, chemistry, and electrical charge affect the biological reactions occurring at the interface of tissue and implant. Therefore, considerable efforts have been made to modify the surface of titanium implants which are based on mechanical, physical and chemical treatments. Recently, biological molecules were introduced onto the surface of implants to stimulate osteogenic cells in the early stage of implantation and consequently accelerate bone formation around implant and subsequent rapid implant stabilization. A range of extracellular matrix components, designed peptides, and growth factors have been proposed as the biological moiety. In this review, we address several issues related to the biology of dental implants and discuss biomimetic modification of the implant surface as a novel approach to obtain successful osseointegration.