Significance of bone morphology and quality on the primary stability of orthodontic mini-implants: in vitro comparison between human bone substitute and artificial bone

AIM: This study evaluated artificial bone models against a human bone substitute to assess the primary stability of orthodontic mini-implants (OMIs) at varying implant sites with different morphologies and qualities. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 1200 OMI placements of four types were inserted into four artificial bone models of different density (D1, D2, D3, D4) and into a human bone substitute (HB). The implants varied in diameter (2.0 and 2.3 mm) and length (9 and 11 mm). Each specimen had four implant sites: no defect, one-wall defect, three-wall defect, and circular defect. The implant stability quotient (ISQ) values were measured using resonance frequency analysis (RFA) and insertion placement torque values (IPT) were assessed for primary stability. Correlation analysis was performed to evaluate the different models. RESULTS: The highest IPT value was registered for the 2.0 mm × 11 mm implant inserted into D1 with no defect (37.53 ± 3.02 Ncm). The lowest ISQ value was measured for the 2.3 mm × 9 mm OMI inserted into D3 with a circular defect (12.33 ± 5.88) and the highest for the 2.3 mm × 9 mm implant inserted into HB with no defect (63.23 ± 2.57). A strong correlation (r = 0.64) for IPT values and a very strong correlation (r = 0.8) for ISQ values was found between D2 and HB. CONCLUSION: Bone defects and bone quality affected the primary stability of implants in terms of ISQ and IPT values. Results for bone model D2 correlated very well with the HB substitution material. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version of this article (10.1007/s00056-022-00385-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.