Evaluation of Surface characteristics and Protein Adsorption and Osseointegration Potential of Polyetheretherketone Modified with Different Surface Treatments and its Co Relation to Immediate and Early and Delayed Implant Loading Protocols

Abstract

The biomedical field has made substantial use of synthetic polymers. Implants, vascular grafts, injectable drug delivery and imaging systems, various devices such implanted drug delivery systems, tissue engineering, etc. are all included in the range of applications. The selection of a polymer is based on a number of criteria, including processing simplicity, wear-and-tear properties, mechanical properties, tissue adhesion, inertness in biological environments, etc. One such polymer i.e., Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) is being researched extensively for possible application as dental implant material as an alternative to titanium and zirconium dioxide due to their drawbacks such as stress shielding , grey colour, hypersensitivity, high plaque affinity, peri-implantitis, corrosion for titanium dental implants and brittleness, product aging which causes low temperature degradation, degradation of the mechanical properties reducing strength, density, toughness and lesser long term clinical studies for zirconia dental implants. newlineThe most important characteristics which has attracted the researchers towards PEEK is its elastic modulus, being 3-4 GPa, converging with natural osseous matter. Given the unwanted stress shielding phenomena, this characteristic is actually preferable over titanium and zirconia dental implants. PEEK also has other benefits such as aesthetic colour, the ability to be mixed with other materials, radiolucency, which reduces artifacts in MRI and CT scans, and biocompatibility. newlineHowever, the disadvantage of PEEK is, its bioinertness, due to its low surface free energy and it does not have ingrained osteoconductive properties. It exhibits inferior bioactivity due to its predominant chemical stability. Hence, due to low cell adhesion and protein adsorption, there is inadequate bone to implant interactivity. So, surface modification of PEEK needs to be carried out for satisfactory outcomes in terms of osseointegration.