Please activate JavaScript!
Please install Adobe Flash Player, click here for download
ePaper created 2015-02-10, 15:02:41 | version 1.33.01
A professor in the Division of Advanced Prosthodontics at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Den- tistry in the US, Dr Takahiro Ogawa is one of the main ad- vocates worldwide for photo- energy-mediated activation of implant materials, a process also known as photo-function- alisation. Dental Tribune Asia Pacific recently had the oppor- tunity to talk with him about the benefits and prospects of this innovation. DentalTribuneAsiaPacific: Photo-functionalisation is achieved by exposing titanium surfaces to ultraviolet light. Wouldyoudescribethisinmore detail and the mechanical or chemical processes that take place during the process? Dr Takahiro Ogawa: Photo- functionalisation is a 12-minute conditioning of dental implants in the device immediately prior to implant placement. The rea- son for this process is that tita- nium ages with time, and this particularly affects its ability to integrate with bone. The photo-energy activation device boasts an optimised com- bination of ultraviolet lights that effectively remove hydro- carbon from the implant surface, transforming the surface from hydrophobic (water-repelling) to hydrophilic (water-friendly). This change in properties, to- gether with the clean titanium surface, attracts more osteoge- nic cells. Photo-functionalised titanium surfaces are electro- statically positive and further enhance cell attraction because cells are electro-negative. All this is intended to make osseointegration of dental im- plants much better and faster. The ageing process of im- plantsdegradeshydrophilicity. Can the features of an aged im- plant surface be fully restored by photo-functionalisation, and does the technology have any limits? Not at all. A series of studies have indicated that photo-func- tionalisationiseffectiveonanyim- plant surface type tested whether acid-etched, dual acid-etched, oxidised, sand-blasted, nano- featured or machined surfaces. While photo-functionalisation can restore implant properties to a degree similar to when it was manufactured, the revitalised implant surfaces degrade time- dependently in the same way as those of regular implants. There- fore, dental implants undergoing treatment with the device need to be placed immediately. Hasthetechniquebeentested ininvivostudiesand,ifso,what results have you found so far? According to a number of preclinical studies, the strength of osseointegration can be increased three times by photo-functionali- sation at the early healing stage. Photo-functionalisation makes implant and abutment surfaces bacteria phobic. The bone-implant contact of photofunctionalised implants reached 98.2 per cent, compared with 50–55 per cent achieved with the control implants. Moreover, it has been found that photo-functionalisation in- creases the quality of marginal bone formation, as well as im- proves the outcome of guided bone regeneration, when ap- plied to titanium mesh. Studies indicate that there are not only short-term benefits of photo- functionalisation. Reliability and predictability in function and aesthetics are expected to increase with time, providing clinicians with a new strategy for a better long-term prognosis for dental implants and reducing the risk of peri-implantitis. You say that photo-func- tionalisation could become a standard procedure for dental implant therapy. When will that happen, in your opinion? Dentists in Japan have been using photo-functionalisation for approximately three years. In Europe, premarketing of the photo-functionalisation device hasrecentlystarted.Ibelievethat other regionswillcatch up shortly and make this technology a glo- bal standard in implant dentistry. A number of projects are also underway utilising photo- functionalisation in the field of general bone engineering and orthopaedic implants and recon- struction. Thank you very much for the interview. DT Dental Tribune International The World’s Largest News and Educational Network in Dentistry www.dental-tribune.com AD “Photo-functionalisation is effective on any implant surface type” An interview with Dr Takahiro Ogawa, US Trends & Applications DENTALTRIBUNE Asia Pacific Edition No. 1+2/201520 Dr Takahiro Ogawa DTAP0115_20_Ogawa 09.02.15 11:01 Seite 1 DTAP0115_20_Ogawa 09.02.1511:01 Seite 1