The high survival clinical success rates of osseointegration are requisites for establishing a long-term biomechanical fixation and load-bearing potential of endosseous oral implants. The objective of this preclinical animal study was to evaluate the effect of surface microtopography and chemistry on the early stages of biomechanical rigidity with a sandblasted, dual acid-etched surface, with or without an additional chemical modification (SAE-HD and SAE, respectively), in the tibia of Beagle dogs.

Two pairs of implants, with the same macrogeometry but different surface technology ((a) dual acid-etched surface treatment with hydrochloric and sulfuric acid followed by microwave treatment and insertion in isotonic saline solution to increase hydrophilicity (SAE-HD) (test, n = 12) and (b) dual acid-etched surface (SAE) (control, n = 12)), were installed bilaterally in the proximal tibia of six Beagle dogs. In order to determine the effect of surface modification on biomechanical fixation, a test protocol was established to assess the torque and a complete set of intrinsic properties. Maximum removal torque (in N cm) was the primary outcome measure, while connection stiffness (N cm/rad) and removal energy (× 10⁻²J) were the secondary outcome measures and were assessed after 2 and 4 weeks in vivo. A general linear statistical model was used and performed for significant differences with the one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey post hoc test (P < 0.05).

The removal torque values did not reveal significant statistical differences between SAE-HD and SAE implants at any observation times (P = 0.06). Although a slight increase over time could be observed in both test and control groups. SAE-HD showed higher removal energy at 4 weeks (999.35 ± 924.94 × 10^− 2 J) compared to that at 2 weeks (421.94 ± 450.58 × 10^− 2 J), while SAE displayed lower values at the respective healing periods (P = 0.16). Regarding connection stiffness, there were no significant statistical differences neither within the groups nor over time. There was a strong, positive monotonic correlation between removal torque and removal energy (=0.722, n = 19, P < 0.001).