Aluminum in Dental Implants: How to Reduce a Potential Risk to Patient’s Health? ^†

Abstract

Some commercial dental implants contain aluminum, which represents a potential risk to health, since aluminum is associated with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. Therefore, control of the chemical composition as well as the surface characteristics of implants is necessary, and one approach is functionalization of the implant’s surface by bio(organic) molecules. Hydrolyzed collagen molecules were self-assembled on the titanium implant containing aluminum. Density Functional Theory calculation results indicated an exergonic reaction (ΔG*_INT = −6.45 kcal mol⁻¹) between the implant surface and the chosen hydrolyzed collagen molecules, while electrochemical impedance spectroscopy results pointed to improved anti-corrosion properties of the modified implant surface (protective effectiveness, η = 98.5%) compared to the unmodified implant surface. During immersion in an artificial saliva (7 days), the hydrolyzed collagen-modified implant remained stable, which is crucial for minimizing the possible negative biological effects on patient’s health.