Implant surface preparation

1. A method of preparing the surface of an implant to be surgically implanted in living bone and made of titanium, said implant having a surface with a native oxide layer thereon, said method comprising the steps of:

(a) removing said native oxide layer from said surface, by etching said surface with hydrofluoric acid of sufficient strength to etch the native oxide layer at a rate of at least about 100 Angstroms per minute; and

(b) acid etching said surface from which said native oxide layer has been removed to form a surface texture.

2. The method of claim 1 further including the step of depositing on said acid-etched surface at least one material selected from the group consisting of bone minerals, hydroxyapatite, whitlockite, bone morphogenic proteins and medicaments.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein said at least one material is in particulate form.

4. A method of preparing a surface of an implant made of titanium, said surface having a native oxide layer thereon, said method comprising the steps of:

(a) removing said native oxide layer from said surface of said implant by etching said surface with hydrofluoric acid of sufficient strength to etch said native oxide layer at a rate of at least about 100 Angstroms per minute;

(b) removing said implant from said hydrofluoric acid after removal of said native oxide layer; and

(c) before re-oxidation, immersing said implant in a mixture of sulfuric acid and hydrochloric acid to produce an etched surface with an array of irregularities.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein said mixture of sulfuric acid and hydrochloric acid is in an aqueous solution with the ratio of sulfuric acid to hydrochloric acid being approximately 5 to 1.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein said step of immersing occurs for about 3 to about 10 minutes.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein said step of immersing is at a temperature of about 70° C.

8. The method of claim 4 further including the step of grit blasting said surface prior to said step of removing said native oxide layer.

9. The method of claim 4 further including the step of depositing on said surface at least one material selected from the group consisting of bone minerals, hydroxyapatite, whitlockite, bone morphogenic proteins and medicaments.

10. A method of preparing a surface of a device that is surgically implantable in living bone, said device being made of titanium and having a native oxide layer on said surface, said method comprising the steps of:

(a) removing substantially all of said native oxide from said surface of said device; and

(b) performing further treatment on said substantially oxide-free surface substantially in the absence of unreacted oxygen to produce a surface with an array of irregularities having peak-to-valley heights less than about 10 microns.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein said acid etching includes immersing said substantially oxide-free surface in a mixture of hydrochloric acid and sulfuric acid.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein said step of immersing in said mixture of hydrochloric acid and sulfuric acid occurs for about 3 to about 10 minutes.

13. A method of preparing a surface of a device that is surgically implantable in living bone, said device being made of titanium having a native oxide layer on said surface, said method comprising the steps of:

(a) immersing said device in hydrofluoric acid to remove substantially all of said native oxide from said surface of said device;

(b) rinsing said device in a first solution to neutralize said device;

(c) immersing said device in a mixture of sulfuric acid and hydrochloric acid at a temperature above room temperature to produce an acid-etched surface with a topography; and

(d) rinsing said device in a second solution to neutralize said device.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein said topography includes an array of irregularities having a peak-to-valley height of less than about 10 microns.

15. A method of preparing a surface of a device that is surgically implantable in living bone, said device being made of titanium and having a native oxide layer on said surface, said method comprising the steps of:

(a) removing said native oxide layer from said surface of said device until the depth of the peak-to-peak oxygen profile as measured by Auger spectrometer has decreased to one-half of the initial profile; and

(b) after said removing, performing a roughening treatment on the surface resulting from said removing to produce a roughened surface with an array of irregularities.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein said native oxide layer has a thickness of about 130 Angstroms.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein said performing said roughening treatment is carried out before reoxidation of the surface resulting from said removing.

18. A method of preparing a surface of a dental implant that is to be surgically implanted in living bone, said dental implant being made of titanium and having a native oxide layer on said surface, said dental implant having a bone-interfacing portion on which said surface resides, a thread making a plurality of turns around said bone-interfacing portion, and a gingival end above said bone-interfacing portion, said gingival end for mating with abutting components, said method comprising the steps of:

(a) removing substantially all of said native oxide from said surface of said dental implant to produce a substantially oxide-free surface; and

(b) performing further treatment on said substantially oxide-free surface to produce a modified surface with an array of irregularities having peak-to-valley heights less than 10 microns, said modified surface being located only on a portion of said plurality of turns of said thread.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein said modified surface is located only below a first turn of said plurality of turns that is adjacent to said gingival end.

20. The method of claim 18 , wherein said performing further treatment is conducted only on a region of said bone-interfacing surface of said dental implant located outside said gingival end.

21. The method of claim 18 , wherein said performing further treatment is conducted only on a region of said bone-interfacing surface of said dental implant located below a first turn of said plurality of turns that is adjacent to said gingival end.

22. The method of claim 18 , wherein said performing further treatment includes acid etching.

23. The method of claim 22 , wherein said acid etching includes etching with sulfuric acid.

24. The method of claim 22 , wherein said acid etching includes etching with hydrochloric acid.

25. The method of claim 22 , wherein said acid etching includes etching with a mixture of hydrochloric acid and sulfuric acid.

26. The method of claim 18 , wherein said removing substantially all of said native oxide layer includes acid etching.

27. The method of claim 26 , wherein said acid etching includes etching with hydrofluoric acid.

28. The method of claim 18 , wherein said irregularities include irregularities having peak-to-valley heights in the range from about 0.3 microns to about 1.5 microns.

29. A method of preparing a surface of a dental implant that is to be surgically implanted in living bone, said dental implant being made of titanium and having a native oxide layer on said surface, said surface of said dental implant having a threaded portion with a thread making a plurality of turns around said threaded portion, and a gingival end above said threaded portion, said gingival end for mating with abutting components, said method comprising the steps of:

(a) performing a first treatment that removes native oxide from said surface; and

(b) performing a second treatment, different from said first treatment, to produce a further roughened surface with an array of irregularities having peak-to-valley heights less than 10 microns.

30. The method of claim 29 , wherein said further roughened surface is located only below a first turn of said plurality of turns that is adjacent to said gingival end.

31. The method of claim 29 , wherein said performing a second treatment is conducted only on a region of said dental implant located outside said gingival end.

32. The method of claim 31 , wherein said performing a second treatment is conducted only on a region of said dental implant located below a first turn of said plurality of turns that is adjacent to said gingival end.

33. The method of claim 29 , wherein said performing a first treatment includes acid-etching.

34. The method of claim 29 , wherein said performing a first treatment includes grit-blasting prior to removing the native oxide layer.

35. The method of claim 34 , wherein said grit-blasting includes blasting with titanium particles.

36. The method of claim 29 , wherein said modified surface is located only below a first turn of said plurality of turns that is adjacent to said gingival end.

37. The method of claim 29 , wherein said performing a second treatment includes acid-etching.

38. The method of claim 29 , wherein said irregularities include irregularities having peak-to-valley heights in the range from about 0.3 microns to about 1.5 microns.

39. A method of preparing a surface of a dental implant that is to be surgically implanted in living bone, the dental implant being made of titanium and having a bone-interfacing surface including a threaded region, the bone-interfacing surface extending from a collar region positioned at a gingival end of the dental implant, the collar region having a smooth surface, the method comprising the acts of:

performing a first treatment on the bone-interfacing surface to remove native oxide from the bone-interfacing surface, the first treatment including grit blasting, the first treatment being performed outside of the collar region to maintain the smooth surface of the collar region; and

after the first treatment, acid-etching the bone-interfacing surface with a solution including hydrochloric and sulfuric acid at a temperature above room temperature to produce a modified surface with an array of irregularities having peak-to-valley heights less than 10 microns, the acid-etching being performed outside of the collar region to maintain the smooth surface of the collar region.

40. The method of claim 39 , wherein the threaded region makes a plurality of turns around the dental implant, the collar region including a first turn of the plurality of turns and the bone-interfacing surface including the remaining plurality of turns.

41. The method of claim 39 , wherein the grit blasting includes blasting with titanium particles.

42. The method of claim 39 , wherein the grit blasting includes blasting with particles having a size ranging from about 10 to about 60 microns.

43. The method of claim 39 , wherein the temperature is in the range of about 60° C. to about 80° C.