colonization of oral bacteria, which involves surface antibacterial activity.
Yoshinari et al. [3-212] studied the antibacterial effect of surface modifications to
Ti on P. gingivalis and A. actinomycetemcomitans. Surface modifications with the
dry process included (1) ion implantation (Ca
⫹
, N
⫹
, F
⫹
), (2) oxidation (anodic
oxidation, titania spraying), (3) ion plating (TiN, alumina), and (4) ion beam mix-
ing (Ag, Sn, Zn, Pt) with Ar
⫹
on CpTi plates. It was found that (i) F
⫹
-implanted
specimens significantly inhibited the growth of both P. gingivalis and A. actino-
mycetemcomitans than the untreated Ti, (ii) the other surface-modified specimens
did not exhibit effective antibacterial activity against both bacteria, and (iii) no
release of fluoride ions were detected from F
⫹
-implanted specimens under disso-
lution tests. It was thus indicated that surface modifications by means of a dry
process are useful in providing antibacterial activity of oral bacteria to Ti implants
exposed to the oral cavity [3-212].
Both anaerobic and aerobic bacteria can participate in the process of microbi-
ology-related corrosion. Sulfate-reducing bacteria are most prevalent under
anaerobic conditions. Lekholm et al. found that the microbial species around sta-
ble versus failing implants are similar to the patterns observed around healthy
versus periodontally involved teeth [3-213]. Quirynen et al. found no significant
differences in the bacterial morphotypes between implants and natural teeth in
partially edentulous patients (with implants and teeth in the same jaw). The per-
centages of coccoid cells, motile rods, spirochetes, and other bacteria were 65.8,
2.3, 2.1 and 29.8% for implants and 55.6, 4.9, 3.6, and 34.9% for teeth, respec-
tively. The results suggested that teeth may serve as a reservoir for the bacterial
colonization of Ti implants in the same mouth [3-207].
There exist several in vitro MIC-related corrosion tests. In an in vitro study using
Staphylococcus epidermidis, a simple-producing strain and its isogenic slime-neg-
ative mutant, it was found that (i) both strains adhere to CpTi discs with signifi-
cantly higher colony counts for the slime-producing strain, (ii) the colony count was
dependent on temperature, time, and stain, and (iii) slime production is important
for adherence and subsequent accumulation of S. epidermidis onto CpTi discs in
vitro [3-214]. Drake et al. [3-215] prepared CpTi surfaces by pre-treating (SiC pol-
ished, sand-blasted, 30% NHO
3
passivated), followed by exposing them to UV ster-
ilization, steam autoclaving at 121
o
C, ethylene gas treatment at 55
o
C, and plasma
cleaning in argon gas. These surface-modified CpTi were investigated in terms of
wettability, roughness, mode of sterilization, and the ability of the oral bacterium S.
sanguis to colonize. It was concluded that (i) Ti samples that exhibited rough or
hydrophobic (low wettability) surfaces, along with all autoclaved surfaces, were
preferentially colonized, (ii) Ti surfaces that had been repeatedly autoclaved were
colonized with the levels of bacteria 3 to 4 orders of magnitude higher than other
modes of sterilization, and (iii) this may have implications relative to the commonly
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