Damping factor for monitoring the bone interface at dental implants.
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.
Veltri
Mario
M
Department of Dental Materials, University of Siena, Siena, Italy. veltri3@unisi.it
Balleri
Piero
P
Ferrari
Marco
M
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
D015921:Dental Implants