Implant restoration is a commonly used treatment for missing teeth, which can achieve better functional and aesthetic effects compared to traditional restoration. Its application in clinical treatment is becoming increasingly widespread and has gradually become a hot topic in academic research. Although the success rate of implant repair is as high as 95%, there are many complications during the implant repair process, such as implant loosening and infection. The firm bonding between the implant and surrounding bone tissue is a prerequisite for maintaining stability, and a healthy osseointegration interface is the key to the stable performance of the implant. Complications such as peri implant infection and loosening of abutment screws can lead to implant failure. Titanium is widely used in implant restoration due to its excellent mechanical properties, corrosion resistance, and biocompatibility. Micro - or nano level treatment of the surface of titanium implant materials can help improve the success rate of oral implants.

Basic properties and classification of plasma

Plasma is the sum of excited molecules, charged particles, reactive oxygen species, reactive nitrogen, and ultraviolet photons produced by ionization of gas mixtures under high-energy conditions. According to different temperatures, it can be divided into hot plasma and low-temperature plasma. High temperature plasma is composed of electrons and heavy particles (ions and neutral particles). Electrons obtain energy from electromagnetic fields, transfer energy to heavy particles through collisions, and heavy particles radiate energy to the surrounding environment. The mass of electrons is about 103-104 times lighter than that of heavy particles, so the temperature of the plasma depends on the temperature of the heavy particles. The collision frequency between electrons and heavy particles in low-temperature plasma is not sufficient to establish temperature equilibrium, and the plasma is in a low-temperature state. The high energy of thermal plasma makes its safety difficult to guarantee, which limits its application in oral practice. Low temperature plasma has the advantages of low temperature, safety, easy diffusion, simple application, and environmental protection. With the development of low-temperature plasma physics, it is widely used in the field of dentistry, and can be used to treat dental caries and pulp lesions. It has achieved good results in teeth bleaching, surface treatment of implant materials, sterilization, and cleaning.

The role of low-temperature plasma treatment in titanium implant repair

Low temperature plasma promotes the integration of titanium implants with bone tissue, promotes early osseointegration of implants, maintains long-term stability of the implant bone interface, and can improve the success rate of implants. After surgery, the surface of the implant can come into contact with many proteins and different cells, including inflammatory cells, bone marrow stromal cells, and osteoblasts. This process is influenced by the physicochemical properties of the implant surface, such as roughness, wettability, and porosity.

Research has found that the surface of titanium implants treated with nitrogen plasma has good osseointegration ability. Compared with machined surfaces, the nitride oxide coating on titanium surfaces can increase the growth rate of cells around implants and promote the differentiation of osteoblasts.

Argon plasma treatment of titanium surface can increase its surface oxygen content, increase surface energy, induce cell adhesion, proliferation, mineralization, promote osteogenic function, and improve early bone healing rate. During the critical initial healing stage, argon plasma treatment can promote osteogenesis on the titanium surface.

After plasma treatment with oxygen, the active ingredients and hydroxyl functional groups can adhere to the titanium surface, increasing its hydrophilicity and facilitating cell adhesion and maintaining metabolic activity.

Low temperature plasma treatment can form a hydrophilic surface of the implant, promote the adhesion of connective tissue and bone tissue to the implant, and facilitate soft tissue sealing and bone integration. In addition, the titanium surface treated with low-temperature plasma can also inhibit bacterial adhesion and growth, showing superior killing effect on the biofilm on the titanium surface and effectively reducing the incidence of infection around the implant. Low temperature plasma can effectively remove residual dirt during the processing of implant abutments/screws, reducing the loosening of abutment screws. In the field of titanium implant repair, the application of low-temperature plasma has shown great potential in improving the success rate of implantation and has a wide range of application prospects.