Dental implants fabricated form Ti and, T--6A1-4V alloy are widely used in clinical practice, yet there is no consensus or established criterion regarding the design or fabrication of implant surfaces. As a result there is little information currently available concerning specific biological responses, such as deposition of extracellular matrix molecules and attachment of cells, which occur during the initial stages of wound healing at the intimate implant and hard and soft tissue interfaces. The overall objective of this research proposal is to investigate some of the cell responses to both standard, commercially available implant surfaces as well as modified Ti based implant surfaces. Preliminary data from our lab suggests that available implant systems vary widely in at least their surfaces topography and that molecular interactions and attachment of cells at these surfaces are affected by the nature of the substrate. The experiments proposed in this application are specifically designed to study a number of variables by surface characterization techniques including scanning electron microscopy (SEM/EDAX), electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA), auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and surface energy (contact angle) measurements. The effects of variables such a type of metal, surface topography, oxide structure and composition and surface charge and energy on fundamental biological events such as matrix adhesion, and cellular attachment, spreading and proliferation on these surfaces will be ascertained. We hypothesize that chemical and biochemical modifications of the implant surface will result in enhanced biological acceptance and long term tissue integration. This type of research has far reaching clinical implications in that it will define a model implant surface which can foster improved tissue reactions, thereby potentially decreasing the long healing periods now necessary with most commercial implant systems.
