Smart, Multifunctional Dental Implants: A Solution for Peri-Implantitis and Bone Loss

At the moment, peri-implantitis remains an unsolved issue not only within EU but also worldwide, affecting up to 43% of the dental implants, with heavy smokers, patients with systemic health conditions (e.g. uncontrolled diabetes) and the immunosuppressed to be more vulnerable to the disease.

Currently used dental implants are of low functionality and prone to bacterial colonisation and to the formation of bacterial biofilm.

I-SMarD aims to provide a proactive option for solving the outstanding condition, by delivering multifunctional dental implants which; i) can detect the changes of the surrounding microenvironment and respond by releasing agents (e.g. nanoparticles, antibiotics) to prevent bacterial colonisation; ii) will have the appropriate structure to match the anatomical characteristics of dental tissues and the components to promote the formation of implant/bone and implant/soft tissue interfaces; iii) will be coated with photoactive layers which will enable the non-invasive monitoring of the healing process (i.e. health of soft tissue) after surgery.

With these we aim to prevent bacterial colonisation around dental implants and reduce the required time and cost of rehabilitation period for patients benefit.

The addition of photo-active layers will impact on the diagnosis of peri-implantitis offering clinicians a diagnostic tool on live monitoring of tissue healing.

For the fabrication, we will utilise advanced manufacturing techniques as 3D printing of titanium (Ti) and Ti alloy powders and Pulsed Laser Deposition for coating the surface of the implants. This will allow the delivery of complex, functional but at the same time low cost, personalised implants.

Aim of our multidisciplinary team is not only the development of an advanced implant but also the delivery of a promising, low cost product that will benefit the manufacturing and nanotechnology sector.