Bone anchored implants are now being used in dentistry for supporting intraoral and craniofacial prostheses. Although high success rates have been reported, a small number of implants may fail during the early healing phase or lateral in function. Currently available clinical methods to determine implant stability and osseointegration are relatively crude and may entail percussing a fixture with a blunt instrument. Radiographs are of value, but a standardised technique is necessary to ensure repeatability. This investigation was designed to study the application of a non-invasive test method using resonance frequency analysis to make quantitative measurements of the stability of the implant tissue interface in-vitro and in-vivo. The resonance frequency of a small transducer was measured when attached to implants embedded at different heights in an aluminum block. A strong correlation (r = 0.94, p < 0.01) was observed between the observed frequency and the height of implantation fixture exposed. The change in stiffness observed in the bone surrounding an implant during healing was modelled by embedding implants in self-curing polymethylmethacrylate and measuring the resonance frequency at periods during polymerisation. A significant increase in resonance frequency was observed related to the increase in stiffness. Resonance frequency measurements were also made on implants in-vivo and the results correlated well with the in-vitro findings.

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The aim of this investigation was to evaluate the use of resonance frequency measurements in the clinical measurement of implant stability. Resonance frequency measurements are undertaken by measuring the response of a small transducer attached to an implant fixture or abutment. Two groups of patients were selected for study. Group A comprised 9 patients who had a total of 56 implants placed. Resonance frequency measurements were made at fixture installation and repeated 8 months later at abutment connection. The resonance frequency of the implant/transducer system increased for 50 out of the 56 implants from a mean value of 7473 Hz +/- 127 Hz (P < 0.05) to a mean of 7915 Hz +/- 112 Hz (P < 0.05). Two implants had failed to integrate and the resonance frequency of these had fallen. Group B comprised 9 patients who had been provided with fixed prostheses and had a total of 52 implants placed. They were examined 5 years after fixture placement and the prostheses removed. All implants were judged clinically to be osseointegrated. The level of the marginal bone around each implant was calculated by measuring the number of exposed threads on intraoral periapical radiographs and added to the length of each abutment to give a value termed the effective implant length (EIL). Measurements indicated a correlation (R = -0.78, P < 0.01) between EIL and resonance frequency. The results support the hypothesis that the resonance frequency of an implant/transducer system is related to the height of the implant not surrounded by bone and the stability of the implant/tissue interface as determined by the absence of clinical mobility.