Dental implants resemble synthetic materials, mainly designed as teeth-mimics to replace the damaged or irregular teeth. Specifically, they are demarcated as a surgical fixture of artificial implant materials, which are placed into the jawbone, and are allowed to be fused with the bone, similar to natural teeth. Dental implants may be categorized into endosteal, subperiosteal, and zygomatic classes, based on the placement of the implant “in the bone” or on top of the jawbone, under the gum tissue. In general, titanium and its alloys have found everyday applications as common, successful dental implant materials. However, these materials may also undergo corrosion and wear, which can lead to degradation into their ionic states, deposition in the surrounding tissues, as well as inflammation. Consequently, nanomaterials are recently introduced as a potential alternative to replace the conventional titanium-based dental implants. However, nanomaterials synthesized via physical and chemical approaches are either costly, non/less biocompatible, or toxic to the bone cells. Hence, biosynthesized nanomaterials, or bionanomaterials, are proposed in recent studies as potential non-toxic dental implant candidates. Further, nanobiomaterials with plant origins, such as nanocelluloses, nanometals, nanopolymers, and nanocarbon materials, are identified to possess enhanced biocompatibility, bioavailability and no/less cytotoxicity with antimicrobial efficacy at low costs and ease of fabrication. In this minireview, we present an outline of recent nanobiomaterials that are extensively investigated for dental implant applications. Additionally, we discuss their action mechanisms, applicability, and significance as dental implants, shortcomings, and future perspectives.
Rabbits as Animal Models in Contemporary Implant Biomaterial Research
