title: Systematic review of current dental implant coating materials and novel coating techniques.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Titanium dental implants have a high success rate; however, there are instances when a modified surface may be desirable. The aim of this article was to systematically review the different types of implant coatings that have been studied clinically, in vivo and in vitro, and the coating techniques being implemented.
  
  
  METHODS
  The literature was searched electronically and manually through The Cochrane Library, Medline, and PubMed databases to identify articles studying dental implant surfaces and coating techniques. The database search strategy revealed 320 articles, of which 52 articles were considered eligible--40 in relation to implant coatings and 12 to the coating technique. An additional 30 articles were retrieved by hand search.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Several materials were identified as possible candidates for dental implant coatings; these include carbon, bisphosphonates, bone stimulating factors, bioactive glass and bioactive ceramics, fluoride, hydroxyapatite (HA) and calcium phosphate, and titanium/titanium nitride. HA coatings still remain the most biocompatible coatings even though the more innovative bioglass suggests promising results. The most common coating techniques are plasma spraying and hydrocoating. More recent techniques such as the nanoscale technology are also discussed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Several implant coatings have been proposed, and some appear to give better clinical results and improved properties than others. Clinical trials are still required to provide compelling evidence-based results for their long-term successful outcomes.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Xuereb
authors.forename: Josette
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Camilleri
authors.forename: Nikolai J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Attard
mesh_terms: D020099:Coated Materials, Biocompatible / Q000737:chemistry*; D015921:Dental Implants; D003764:Dental Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D017267:Dental Prosthesis Design; D055664:Electrochemical Techniques; D006801:Humans; D058626:Plasma Gases / Q000737:chemistry; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D020099:Coated Materials, Biocompatible; D015921:Dental Implants; D003764:Dental Materials; D058626:Plasma Gases