How to unmask the dangerous “double face” of an implant
With regard to implants, trans-alveolar ultrasonography (TAU) focuses on the question of osseointegration, i.e. the direct structural and functional connection between living bone and the surface of a load-bearing implant. Ultimately, the primary treatment goal of the implantologist is to create a functional ankylosis between the implant and the jawbone. Perfect osseointegration means that new bone is placed directly on the implant surface and the implant thus demonstrates mechanical stability.
But what happens if integration or “bone adherence” does not take place over the entire surface of the implant? Then the implant shows a possible double face: on the one hand, it has healed sufficiently – to the satisfaction of the implanting dentist and the implant wearer – and serves to mechanically improve chewing ability and occlusion.
On the other hand, however, it is a potential carrier of constant inflammation to the immunological detriment of the patient. Osteoimmunology in the field of bone regeneration has now developed into an important interdisciplinary field.
The condition of the bone marrow is important for the proper development of the entire immune system and harbours crucial stem cells for the maintenance of the immune system. The cytokines produced by the immune cells have important effects on the regulation of bone homeostasis and thus on systemic immune diseases.
Trans-alveolar ultrasound sonography, which is also used in the CaviTAU®, gives you an objective intraosseous insight into the interaction between the immune system and the bone system around the dental implant in question. This enables you to detect partially failed osseointegration and reduced hard tissue formation in clinical and numerical detail. This allows you to specifically visualise peri-implant bone diseases in dental implantology and take them into account in the next step.