Personalized biomimetic trabecular porous tantalum dental implants: A study on early osteogenesis and osseointegration

To overcome the limitations of conventional dental implants in early osseointegration, a novel biomimetic, patient-specific porous tantalum dental implant based on a silicon carbide–porous tantalum composite (SiC-pTa) was developed. The implant design was based on reconstructed trabecular bone architecture from human jaw computed tomography (CT) data. The implant was fabricated using a porous silicon carbide (SiC) scaffold coated with a high-purity tantalum layer via chemical vapor deposition (CVD), resulting in a composite structure with a dense tantalum surface and a highly interconnected three-dimensional pore network. The biological performance of the implant was systematically evaluated using MC3T3-E1 murine pre-osteoblastic cells in vitro and a rabbit femoral condyle model in vivo. Results demonstrated that the SiC-pTa implant significantly enhanced the expression of osteogenesis-related genes and proteins (including alkaline phosphatase (ALP), osteocalcin (OCN), Runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx2), and osteopontin (OPN)) and induced abundant new bone formation within the scaffold pores. The enhanced osseointegration may be closely associated with its biomimetic microarchitecture, surface topography, and its regulation of integrin/autophagy signaling pathways. Collectively, these findings demonstrate the superior bone regenerative potential of SiC-pTa implants, providing a strong theoretical and experimental basis for their potential application in clinical scenarios such as the treatment of alveolar bone defects and cases with insufficient bone mass. • A novel SiC-based porous tantalum (SiC-pTa) dental implant was fabricated via chemical vapor deposition (CVD), forming a dense tantalum coating and a highly interconnected three-dimensional pore network. • The SiC-pTa scaffolds significantly promoted osteoblast adhesion, proliferation, and the expression of osteogenic markers (ALP, OCN, OPN, Runx2). • In a rabbit femoral condyle model, the SiC-pTa implants exhibited markedly enhanced new bone formation and early osseointegration, as confirmed by micro-CT and VG staining. • This study provides a novel implant strategy for clinical restoration of alveolar bone defects and cases with insufficient bone mass.