The basic science of peri-implant bone healing

Given the popularity of cementless orthopedic implants, it is imperative for orthopedic surgeons to have a basic understanding of the process of peri-implant bone healing. Contact and distance osteogenesis have been used to explain peri-implant bone healing. In contact osteogenesis, de novo bone forms on the implant surface, while in distance osteogenesis, the bone grows from the old bone surface toward the implant surface in an appositional manner. Contact osteogenesis may lead to bone bonding if the surface of the implant displays the appropriate surface topography. The early stage of peri-implant bone healing is very important and involves the body’s initial response to a foreign material: protein adsorption, platelet activation, coagulation, and inflammation. This results in the formation of a stable fibrin clot that is a depot for growth factors and allows for osteoconduction. Osteoconduction is the migration and differentiation of osteogenic cells, such as pericytes, into osteoblasts. Osteoconduction allows for contact osteogenesis to occur at the implant surface. The late stage of healing involves the remodeling of this woven bone. In many respects, this process is similar to the bone healing occurring at a fracture site.