Implant materials and surfaces to minimizing biofilm formation and peri-implantitis

The objective of research in implantology is to provide materials and surfaces that could accelerate the healing and osteogenesis, minimize the failures, and provide long-term success. The production of treated surfaces with additive or subtractive techniques have permitted to increase the bone–implant contact, to accelerate the loading protocols and decrease the early failures; some authors have hypothesized that the increased wettability of these novel surfaces could also increase the bacterial adhesion and the risk of peri-implantitis; however, there are many parameters that influence the biofilm formation. One of these is represented by the average roughness, Ra, but also other factors, like free energy, chemistry, and titanium purity, have a great role in the establishment of the microbiota. In this chapter, we will discuss the novel materials and surfaces that could decrease early failure and improve long-term success in implantology.