Evaluation the possibility of Bioactivation of Niobium and Titanium by Biomemtic Process

Background Commercially pure titanium (cpTi) is widely used as dental implant material Although it was found that titanium exhibited high modulous of elasticity and the lower corrosion tendency in oral environment. Niobium (Nb) was choosen for this study as an alternative to cpti implant material due to its bioinert behavior and good elastic modulous and moderate cost in addition to corrosion resistance. Aim of study This study was done to evaluate the effect of biomimetic coating on the surface properties of the commercially pure titanium and niobium implants by histological feature analysis. Materials and methods The screw preparation involved preparation screwshaped implants, 3.0 mm in diameter and 8mm in length (threaded part is 5mm and smooth part is 3mm) and pitch height is 0.6mm, were made from each cpTi and pure Nb rods using Lathe machine. then etching the samples of each material in HCl under inert atmosphere of Ar for 2h and soaking in 10M NaOH aqueous solution at 60C for 24h. These samples were then immersed in a 5 times concentrated simulated body fluid at 37C and pH 7.4 for 14 days. then implantation of screw-shaped implants (two from each material, uncoated and the other is biomimetically coated) in the tibias of New Zealand rabbits. After 2 and 4 weeks of healing period, 10 rabbits were sacrificed for each period. rabbits were used for histological testing and histomorphometric analysis with optical microscope. Results The new bone formation increase significantly in Nb than Ti, in coated than uncoated screws, And in 4 weeks than 2 weeks healing periods. Conclusion the Nb implants had better biological properties than the commercially pure titanium implants and can be used as an alternative dental implant.