Preparation of Titanium Dioxide Nanotube-Based Dental Implants for Osteogenesis and Osseointegration Acceleration

Dentition defects or missing are common diseases threatening human health. The dental implant technology is an effective way to repair dentition defects. Titanium and titanium alloy implants are widely used in clinical practice because of their good biocompatibility, corrosion resistance, and high mechanical strength. In this study, anodic oxidation was used to prepare titanium dioxide nanotubes with different diameters. Due to the strong adsorption capacity of the nanotube structure, the nanotube was loaded with icariin, and then the titanium dioxide nanotubes loaded with icariin (NTx + ICy) were applied in osteogenesis and osseointegration experiment. It was found that the prepared titanium dioxide nanotube wall was smooth. The diameters of the nanotubes prepared at 10 V, 20 V, and 28 V were 30 nm, 50 nm and 75 nm, respectively. The proportion of icariin was varied, and the most sustained release time of icariin was three days, and the sustained release amount was relatively large on the first day. At each time point, the number of cells adhered to the pure titanium sheets and 10 V-treated nanotubes-Icariin was large and notably higher than 30 V-treated nanotube-Icariin. The patients involved were subjected to puncture to obtain bone marrow stem cells. It was found that the NTx + ICy materials promoted the osteoblast proliferation. Further, clinical observation found that the composite titanium dioxide nanotube materials can stimulate macrophages to create a powerful bone immune microenvironment and accelerate the process of osseointegration.