title: Damping factor for monitoring the bone interface at dental implants.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study is to investigate whether the damping of osseointegrated implants, as measured quantitatively with the Osstell equipment, is related to the fractal dimension of peri-implant bone.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty-five maxillary implants in function for 3 years before the present study were investigated. Two Osstell measurements were obtained for each implant with the transducer oriented first palatally and then distally. Using the half-power bandwidth method, the damping was calculated from the frequency/amplitude plot obtained from the Osstell. Damping data were then related to the fractal dimension of peri-implant bone. Fractal dimensions were calculated using a box-counting algorithm on digitally processed intra-oral radiographs of the implants. A Spearman's test was used to verify the correlation between damping and fractal dimension values.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All the implants were clinically stable and free from symptoms. The mean ISQ was 63 for the palatal orientation and 71 for the distal orientation. The mean fractal dimension was 1.47; the mean damping value for palatal orientation was 12.3%, while that for the distal orientation was 8.2%. No significant correlation was found.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Damping values, measured at peri-implant bone, were found not to be related to a radiographic parameter of trabecular bone pattern like the fractal dimension. The clinical implication would be that Osstell graphs displaying distinct or more rounded peaks might both indicate a stable implant as long as the associated implant stability quotients are in the range of satisfactory values proposed in the literature.
authors: Department of Dental Materials, University of Siena, Siena, Italy. veltri3@unisi.it
authors: Mario
authors: M
authors: Veltri
authors: Piero
authors: P
authors: Balleri
authors: Marco
authors: M
authors: Ferrari
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000465:Algorithms; D000539:Alveolar Process / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery; D015519:Bone Density / Q000502:physiology*; D003748:Dental Equipment; D015921:Dental Implants; D017268:Dental Prosthesis Retention; D003799:Dental Stress Analysis / Q000295:instrumentation; D005260:Female; D017709:Fractals; D006801:Humans; D007575:Jaw, Edentulous / Q000534:rehabilitation / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008437:Maxilla; D008875:Middle Aged; D016348:Osseointegration / Q000502:physiology*; D010474:Percussion / Q000295:instrumentation; D011859:Radiography; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D014732:Vibration
chemical_list: D015921:Dental Implants