Dental implants made by selective laser sintering-melting method

The aim of the work is to study the structure and characteristics of dental root implants made by combining selective laser sintering and selective laser melting of titanium powders. Implants based on titanium powders were made by combining selective laser sintering and selective laser melting of titanium powders. The structure and properties of the materials were studied. It was found that the method allows to form structures with high porosity on the surface and high density in the center. It was shown that the boundary between the sintered and remelted zones is diffuse. This is due to the penetration of the melt into the pores between the particles during laser processing. The porous structure of the surface is homogeneous (average porosity is 40–45 %, average pore size is 100–200 μm). The resulting implants were tested on canine animals. It was found that bone beams grow into the surface of the titanium implants. No signs of degeneration were detected at the contact boundary of the bone and the internal structures of the implant. This is evidence of high compatibility of bone to the artificial structure. The results demonstrate the prospects of creating implants from titanium powders using a combined sintering-melting method.