Researchers began with an exploratory search for questions commonly asked about dental implants, using three online question-suggestion platforms: Also Asked, Answer the Public and Google’s “People Also Ask” feature. Searches covered terms including dental implants, implant pain, complications, cost and longevity. The search generated 176 questions. Two reviewers removed duplicates and semantically identical items, resolving disagreements by discussion and, when necessary, consultation with a third senior reviewer. The final set contained 99 unique, grammatically reviewed questions divided into four domains: biological and surgical aspects, with 16 questions; prosthetic and material science, with 22; clinical outcomes and complications, with 26; and patient-centered and economic considerations, with 35. The unequal distribution reflected the topics represented in the public searches rather than an attempt to create equal comparison groups.

Each question was submitted separately to ChatGPT-5, Gemini 3 Pro, DeepSeek V3.2 and Microsoft Copilot on December 4, 2025. The investigators used the free consumer versions of the platforms, retained their default settings, accessed them in incognito windows and disabled retrieval tools. Every question began in a new conversation, and pages were refreshed before the next submission to prevent context from carrying over. The procedure also excluded use of the “regenerate response” option. Responses were collected by one investigator and transferred into anonymized documents so that the two assessors could score them without knowing the assigned model. This reduced contextual and identification bias, although it tested only one response from each model on one particular day.

Two board-certified specialists in fixed prosthodontics evaluated the answers independently. They used the Global Quality Scale, or GQS, to assess overall quality, coherence, flow and relevance; a modified four-point usefulness scale; and the CLEAR reliability framework, which rates completeness, absence of false information, evidence support, appropriateness and relevance. Each CLEAR element was scored from one to five, producing a total from five to 25. Totals of 19–25 were classified as “very good,” 12–18 as average and 5–11 as poor. Readability was assessed with the Flesch–Kincaid Grade Level and Simple Measure of Gobledygook indices. Before the main evaluation, both specialists scored a separate pilot set of 40 question-answer pairs that was excluded from analysis, discussed discrepancies and standardized their scoring with a third senior specialist.

All 396 chatbot responses fell into the study’s highest CLEAR category, with a median total score of 25 for DeepSeek and medians of 24 for the other three systems. The investigators reported statistically significant differences among models in reliability, quality, usefulness and readability, with p values below 0.001 for the overall comparisons. DeepSeek had a mean CLEAR score of 24.68, compared with 23.31 for ChatGPT, 23.44 for Gemini and 23.65 for Copilot, and it had a median of 25 with an interquartile range of zero. It also produced the largest proportion of responses rated “excellent” on the GQS: 83 of 99, or 83.8%. By contrast, 14.1% of ChatGPT answers, 24.2% of Gemini answers and 10.1% of Copilot answers received that rating. These high scores concern the experts’ judgments under this protocol; they do not establish that the outputs are safe, traceable to evidence or suitable for every patient.

Readability produced one of the clearest contrasts. DeepSeek had the lowest mean Flesch–Kincaid Grade Level score, 8.67, followed by Copilot at 9.02, ChatGPT at 9.42 and Gemini at 11.07. A higher FKG score indicates more complex text, so the ordering placed DeepSeek closest to an eighth-grade reading level and Gemini highest. On the SMOG index, Copilot ranked as easiest at a mean of 11.11, followed by DeepSeek at 11.39, ChatGPT at 11.64 and Gemini at 13.18. A mixed-design analysis found that model choice accounted for 39% of the variance in FKG scores and 42% of the variance in SMOG scores. Gemini’s responses were significantly harder to read than those from the other three systems, while ChatGPT was harder to read than DeepSeek by the FKG measure and Copilot by the SMOG measure. Question category did not significantly affect either readability score, nor was there a significant interaction between topic and model.

Under the study’s reversed usefulness scale, lower scores represented more useful answers. ChatGPT performed best in this dimension: one response was rated “very useful,” 42 were rated “useful,” 51 were classified as “partially useful” and five were “not useful.” Gemini and Copilot each had 27 “useful” responses, while DeepSeek had only one answer in that category; 39 of its 99 responses were judged “not useful.” ChatGPT’s overall usefulness advantage was statistically significant after adjustment for multiple comparisons. Yet the pattern reveals a trade-off: DeepSeek’s answers were rated more reliable and higher in overall quality, but they were less useful according to the patient-oriented rating. The authors interpret this as evidence that greater informational depth does not necessarily translate into more accessible or user-friendly communication.

The study also distinguished reliability, quality and usefulness as separate constructs. GQS and CLEAR assessed characteristics such as coherence, completeness, support, absence of false information, appropriateness and relevance, whereas usefulness was intended to capture how well an answer met a patient’s informational needs. The distinction matters because a technically strong response may still be difficult to use. Indeed, higher readability scores were associated with lower GQS scores for Gemini, lower usefulness scores for ChatGPT and lower CLEAR scores for Gemini and Copilot. Question category had no significant effect on usefulness or GQS scores, although patient-centered and economic questions showed a modest reliability advantage over prosthetic and material science and clinical-outcome questions in the CLEAR analysis. The authors emphasized that this effect was small and had limited practical impact.

Despite the reassuring reliability results, the system produced no directly linked references that would allow each clinical statement to be independently traced, and the clear ceiling effect reduced the ability of the CLEAR tool to distinguish among systems. The authors also note that the framework itself was validated by a small number of healthcare professionals and that multiple assessment tools are therefore needed. More broadly, the findings apply only to English-language, open-ended questions answered in a controlled consumer setting. Model outputs may change as software is updated; repeated queries were not tested, patient comprehension was not measured, and no clinical outcomes were evaluated. Readability indices quantify sentence and word complexity rather than actual understanding, which can vary with health literacy, education, prior knowledge and familiarity with terms such as osseointegration or peri-implantitis.

For people seeking information about dental implants, the results offer a qualified snapshot rather than a clinical verdict. DeepSeek led this test in expert-rated reliability and response quality, ChatGPT led in usefulness, and DeepSeek and Copilot were easier to read by the measures used. All four systems received favorable reliability scores, but even an answer judged “very good” can omit patient-specific considerations such as bone quality, systemic health or radiographic findings. The researchers therefore position these tools as adjuncts within a clinician-supervised, human-in-the-loop approach, not substitutes for professional consultation. Their conclusion calls for studies involving actual patients, clinically validated outcomes, multilingual responses, repeated queries and newer model versions to determine whether differences in generated text translate into better understanding, confidence or anxiety.

Subject of Research: Comparison of four AI chatbots answering public questions about dental implants

Article Title: The use of different artificial intelligence-powered chatbots to answer questions related to dental implants

Article References: Alamoush, R. A., Atrash, M., Abusidu, Z., Sabrah, A. H. A., Alraheam, I. A., Alnsour, M. M., & AL-Omiri, M. K. (2026). The use of different artificial intelligence-powered chatbots to answer questions related to dental implants. Frontiers in Oral Health, 7, Article 1975960. https://doi.org/10.3389/froh.2026.1975960

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.3389/froh.2026.1975960

Keywords: artificial intelligence, chatbots, dental implants, digital dentistry, large language models, patient education, health literacy, response reliability, response quality, readability, different, artificial

Because every implant received both irrigation and L8020, the study cannot determine whether either component produced the disappearance of suppuration. Peri-implantitis is an inflammatory disease affecting the tissues around a dental implant and is associated with progressive bone loss. Suppuration, meaning visible purulent exudate after gentle probing, is a sign of active inflammation.

The single-center study in Japan enrolled adults with an implant affected by peri-implantitis for at least one year and persistent suppuration for at least three months, confirmed within the week before enrollment. All 10 target implants had both bleeding on probing and visible suppuration at baseline. The participants had a mean age of 80.0 ± 7.8 years; seven were women and three were men, and none were current smokers.

One participant had a history of cerebral infarction. When more than one implant met the eligibility criteria, the investigators selected the implant with the longest documented duration of suppuration. The design was prospective, single-arm and open-label, and the sole examiner was not blinded to the intervention.

No formal sample-size calculation was performed because no previous clinical study had examined topical L8020 in peri-implantitis. The target of 10 implants was therefore chosen pragmatically for feasibility and exploratory analysis, and all enrolled patients completed the Day 7 assessment without missing clinical or microbiological data. For treatment, the clinicians first gently irrigated the peri-implant sulcus with 2.5 mL of sterile saline for approximately 10 seconds to remove visible suppuration.

They then applied about 0.3 mL of the L8020 gel circumferentially with a syringe designed for subgingival delivery until slight overflow could be seen. In addition to L8020, the formulation contained dipotassium glycyrrhizinate, potassium nitrate, sodium fluoride and sodium polyphosphate. Participants were instructed not to eat, drink, gargle or use antimicrobial mouthwash for 30 minutes after application.

They continued routine toothbrushing, received no additional nonsurgical or surgical treatment at the target implant, and were prohibited from using systemic or topical antimicrobial agents during the seven-day observation period. The prespecified primary outcome was disappearance of suppuration at Day 7. A single experienced examiner measured probing pocket depth, bleeding on probing and suppuration at six sites around each implant, using the deepest pocket measurement for statistical analysis.

Gentle probing was performed at approximately 0.25 N with a plastic Williams Colorvue periodontal probe. Suppuration was recorded when visible purulent exudate appeared at one or more sites. The investigators explicitly treated disappearance of suppuration as a preliminary short-term observation, not as proof that peri-implantitis had resolved or entered sustained remission.

Mean probing pocket depth was 7.1 ± 1.9 mm at baseline and 7.1 ± 1.9 mm at Day 7, with no change in any individual participant. For microbiome analysis, submucosal plaque was collected before clinical probing by placing sterile paper points in the deepest peri-implant sulcus for approximately 30 seconds. Samples were obtained at baseline and Day 7.

The investigators amplified the V3–V4 region of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene and used paired-end sequencing on an Illumina NextSeq 1000. Within-sample diversity was evaluated with Chao1, Faith’s phylogenetic diversity, observed features, Pielou evenness and Shannon diversity. Overall community structure was assessed through Bray–Curtis principal coordinate analysis and an exact paired PERMANOVA that exchanged baseline and Day 7 labels only within participants, covering all 1,024 possible within-participant permutations.

Genus- and species-level abundance was also examined with paired Wilcoxon signed-rank tests and Benjamini–Hochberg false-discovery-rate correction. None of the five alpha-diversity indices showed a significant paired change: the p values were 0.557 for Chao1, Faith’s phylogenetic diversity and observed features, 0.695 for Pielou evenness, and 0.770 for Shannon diversity. Bray–Curtis principal coordinate analysis showed no distinct separation between baseline and Day 7, and the exact paired PERMANOVA detected no difference in overall community structure (pseudo-F = 0.158; exact p = 0.883).

Genus- and species-level profiles varied substantially between individuals but showed no consistent community-wide shift. Fusobacterium and Porphyromonas were the most abundant genera across the samples, while Porphyromonas gingivalis and Fusobacterium nucleatum subsp. vincentii were among the most abundant taxa at both assessments. No genus or species remained significant after correction across 120 genera and 290 species; the minimum adjusted q value was 1.000.

A complementary LEfSe analysis also found no differential abundance from phylum through species level. These convergent microbiome results mean that the disappearance of suppuration was not accompanied by a detectable major restructuring of bacterial composition, but they do not prove that no microbiological or host-mediated effect occurred. The sequencing method characterized relative bacterial composition rather than bacterial viability, metabolic activity, host inflammatory responses or strain-specific persistence.

The investigators did not use a strain-specific molecular assay to determine whether L8020 remained at the treatment site. Functional activity or immune effects could therefore have occurred without appearing in the taxonomic analysis, yet the available data also do not demonstrate that L8020 altered the microbiota or mediated the clinical observation. The unchanged probing depths further show that the measured change was confined to visible suppuration and was not accompanied by improvement in that structural clinical measure during the short observation period.

Several alternative explanations remain compatible with the results. Saline irrigation could have diluted or removed inflammatory exudate, while direct manipulation of the sulcus could have disturbed biofilm or changed the local wound environment. Spontaneous short-term fluctuation in disease activity is also possible.

Accordingly, the authors describe the seven-day finding as a possible transient remission of suppuration after the combined procedure, not as evidence of an L8020-specific effect. The study’s single-center sample, single-arm open-label design, lack of an irrigation-only or placebo comparator, seven-day follow-up and absence of strain-specific testing limit causal inference and generalizability. An administrative non-compliance also occurred while the principal-investigator position was temporarily vacant; it was formally reviewed, corrective and preventive measures were implemented, and institutional procedures permitted the three affected participants’ data to remain in the analysis.

Within these limits, the procedure was feasible and well tolerated over seven days. The trial selected its short follow-up to examine early clinical and microbiological changes rather than sustained efficacy, and the practical contribution is preliminary information on topical application and short-term safety in a defined group of patients with persistent peri-implant suppuration. Incremental benefit over irrigation alone and cost-effectiveness were not evaluated, so the results do not establish that adding L8020 provides clinical benefit or support routine implementation.

The investigators state that controlled studies with appropriate comparators, larger samples and longer follow-up are required to determine whether any benefit is attributable to L8020, whether disappearance of suppuration persists, and whether clinical or microbiological outcomes improve beyond those produced by irrigation and local manipulation alone.

Subject of Research: Seven-day pilot of topical L8020 after saline irrigation for peri-implantitis with suppuration

Article Title: Short-term clinical observations following local L8020 application in peri-implantitis with suppuration: a pilot study

Article References: Hashimoto, Y., Yasuda, K., Okada, S., Ogino, T., & Tsuga, K. (2026). Short-term clinical observations following local L8020 application in peri-implantitis with suppuration: a pilot study. Frontiers in Oral Health, 7, Article 1967259. https://doi.org/10.3389/froh.2026.1967259

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.3389/froh.2026.1967259

Keywords: peri-implantitis, dental implants, L8020, Lactobacillus rhamnosus KO3, suppuration, oral microbiome, 16S rRNA sequencing, pilot study, probiotics, Short-term, clinical, observations

The research team, led by Lebogang Lebea of the Tshwane University of Technology and the Central University of Technology, together with Dawood Desai, Harry Ngwangwa, and Fulufhelo Nemavhola, focused on laser shock peening, or LSP, a surface modification technique that has already proven its worth in jet engines and steam turbines. In LSP, a short, intense laser pulse strikes a metallic target covered by a sacrificial ablative layer, typically a tape, with a thin film of water on top. The pulse vaporizes the sacrificial layer and generates plasma that expands explosively, sending a shock wave deep into the metal. Because the water confines the plasma, the shock wave is far more powerful than it would be in open air, and when the resulting compressive stresses exceed the metal’s yield strength, the surface plastically deforms in a controlled way. The outcome is a surface laced with compressive residual stress, which resists fatigue cracking and corrosion, and a deliberately roughened topography that bone cells can grip.

What makes the new study unusual is the set of five parameters it applies at once: single-shot angle, single-shot repetition, pulse duration, material orientation, and laser power. Previous investigations have typically explored these factors in isolation or in pairs. The South African group ran nine computational experiments in which the loading angle and material orientation were each set to either zero or 60 degrees, and the number of shot repetitions ranged from three to five, all at a laser power density of 4.2 gigawatts per square centimeter and a pulse duration of 2.5 nanoseconds. The 60-degree orientation was not arbitrary; it follows the team’s earlier work on 3D-printed titanium implants, which identified that orientation as a promising factor and aligned with the ISO 140800 standard for testing dental implants. Fatigue failures of dental implants have previously been observed between the second and third threads, and the researchers wanted to know whether LSP could strengthen exactly those vulnerable regions.

To simulate the process, the team built a finite element model in Abaqus CAE 2020 using the explicit solver, which is designed for dynamic, high-strain-rate events like laser shocks. The model contained 383,313 nodes and 359,440 linear hexahedral elements of type C3D8R, with a mesh convergence analysis used to confirm that the mesh was fine enough. The default mesh size was progressively reduced until the stress curve flattened, and a finer mesh was concentrated around the shot diameter to limit distortion. The material’s behavior was captured with the Johnson-Cook plasticity model, a popular constitutive law for metals undergoing large deformation, high strain rates, and rising temperatures. In this formulation, the yield stress under reference conditions was set at 1,098 megapascals, with a strain hardening constant of 1,092 megapascals, a strain rate strengthening coefficient of 0.026, a strain hardening coefficient of 0.04, and a thermal softening coefficient of 0.4, with a melting temperature of 1,922 kelvin and a reference temperature of 298 kelvin.

The boundary conditions allowed the laser power to be applied as a distributed load along the laser shot spot, following the pulse temporal profile, and the load was assigned a 60-degree angle for the second and third sets of computational tests. The first set had no material orientation or shot angles, allowing the researchers to isolate and compare the effects of each parameter. The team then wrote a novel surface roughness model in MATLAB 2023, taking the vertical displacement coordinates from the simulation output and computing the arithmetic mean roughness, Ra, from the distance of each surface node to a fitted contour centerline. The code also introduced parameters for the period and amplitude of a repetitive surface pattern, the number of laser passes, the laser power, and the pulse duration and time between passes, rotating the surface profile to account for material orientation. This is the first time, according to the authors, that such a combined computational framework has been used to develop surface roughness parameters for dental applications.

The experimental side of the study used titanium specimens measuring 1.4 by 1.4 by 0.2 centimeters, cut from a titanium plate and peened on one side with ablative tape using the Nd:Glass process. Each shot used a peak laser power density, a 0.2-centimeter spot diameter, and a fixed pulse width, with the output data for every shot stored on a computer connected to an oscilloscope to guarantee that the laser settings did not drift during the three shots. A consistent water flow was maintained in each shot to keep the water film thickness the same. Compressive residual stress was measured by X-ray diffraction, using the cos alpha and sin squared psi methods, which are among the four primary diffraction techniques commonly employed for residual stress measurement and can be applied with laboratory diffractometers as well as synchrotron and neutron sources.

The agreement between simulation and experiment was striking. When laser power was applied and repeated three times, the computational model predicted a compressive residual stress of minus 578.45 megapascals, while the experimental samples measured minus 592.18 megapascals, a difference of just 2.32 percent, well within the 10 percent threshold the researchers consider acceptable. The treated titanium samples showed no discernible bending deformation, but the distortion caused by the single spot shock was clearly visible, and the computed and experimental samples displayed a similar imprint. The results also compare favorably with earlier published work: a computational study by Zhou and colleagues reported a compressive residual stress of about 578 megapascals for Ti6Al4V, while an experimental study by Nie and colleagues using 4.24 gigawatts per square centimeter laser power reported 410 megapascals, and Ran and colleagues achieved up to 552.4 megapascals without ablation using a 30 percent lap rate.

The parametric results revealed a surprising dependence on repetition count and geometry. Without any angle or material orientation, the compressive residual stress was minus 578.450 megapascals after three repetitions but collapsed to minus 1.620 megapascals after four, and minus 1.536 megapascals after five. When the load was applied at a 60-degree angle without material orientation, the stress was minus 31.050 megapascals after three repetitions and minus 760.959 megapascals after four. With both a 60-degree material orientation and a 60-degree loading angle, the values rose from minus 330.85 megapascals to minus 761.020 megapascals during the fourth repetition, before dropping to minus 1.536 megapascals at five repetitions. On the roughness side, the model without angle or orientation recorded an Ra of 2.9491 micrometers at three repetitions, 2.9487 micrometers with a 60-degree loading angle, and 2.9211 micrometers with both orientation and loading applied. At four repetitions with orientation and loading, the Ra dropped to 2.7064 micrometers, and at five repetitions the values were 2.9717, 2.7082, and 2.9717 micrometers for the three configurations respectively. The authors conclude that by varying material orientation and loading angle, the Ra value can be increased fourfold, a finding they say demonstrates that Ra values can be increased through four repetitions while adjusting these parameters.

Why does this matter for patients? Surface roughness is a decisive factor in osseointegration, the direct structural and functional connection between living bone and the implant surface. Studies have shown that surfaces with Ra values of 3 to 5 micrometers are generally more favorable for osteoblast, or bone-forming cell, responses than smooth surfaces with Ra values below 1 micrometer, and in vitro work has demonstrated that rougher titanium surfaces promote bone cell proliferation and differentiation. The Ra values achieved in this study, roughly 2.7 to 3.0 micrometers, sit squarely in the range that researchers consider promising for implant integration. Earlier in vitro investigations have revealed that complex hybrid surface topographies, combining submicron pits atop larger micro-craters, produce the most developed osteoblast phenotype, and in vivo studies of rough 3D-printed titanium implants have shown no deleterious effects on bone repair. An LSP-treated surface could therefore serve a dual role: its compressive residual stress field resists the fatigue failures that have plagued dental implants between the second and third threads, while its engineered roughness encourages bone to anchor directly to the metal.

The study also carries a broader message for manufacturing. Experimental trials to investigate the impact of LSP factors on surface roughness are costly and time-consuming, and the finite element approach has recently emerged as an efficient alternative for predicting residual stress and surface displacement in metallic components. By validating their model against physical measurements with a discrepancy of only 2.32 percent, the South African team has shown that a computational framework can reliably explore design spaces that would otherwise require extensive laboratory work. The same technique has already been applied successfully to steam turbine blades, and the authors note that the approach follows a worst-case scenario in dental implant design, making it a conservative tool for engineers. As laser systems and LSP technology continue to advance, the ability to computationally tailor surface roughness and residual stress together, by adjusting material orientation, loading angle, and shot repetition, could accelerate the development of next-generation implants not only for dentistry but for orthopedic and maxillofacial surgery as well, where titanium alloys remain the biomaterial of choice thanks to their biocompatibility, corrosion resistance, and mechanical performance.

Subject of Research: Materials Science

Article Title: Influence of material orientation, loading angle, and single-shot repetition of laser shock peening on surface roughness properties

Article References: Lebea, L., Desai, D., Ngwangwa, H., & Nemavhola, F. (2024). Influence of material orientation, loading angle, and single-shot repetition of laser shock peening on surface roughness properties. Frontiers in Manufacturing Technology, 4, Article 1421589. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmtec.2024.1421589

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.3389/fmtec.2024.1421589

Keywords: laser shock peening, Ti6Al4V, surface roughness, residual stress, dental implants, finite element analysis, biomaterials, Influence, material, orientation, loading, angle

The biological response to peripheral nerve injury is highly intricate and comprises a synchronized sequence of cellular and molecular processes, including Wallerian degeneration, Schwann cell stimulation, macrophage-dependent debris removal, vascularization, extracellular matrix remodeling, and axonal regeneration. Successful recovery relies not only on the inherent regenerative capability of peripheral nerves but also on the reestablishment of a permissive niche facilitating neural healing. In the mandibular canal, however, regeneration may be impaired by distinct anatomical limitations. Edema, vascular inadequacy, inflammation, and fibrosis can compromise axonal regrowth and contribute to persistent neurosensory disturbance. Consequently, functional recovery after IAN injury is largely unpredictable, underscoring the need for therapeutic strategies that actively facilitate regeneration rather than merely attenuating symptoms.

Contemporary management approaches for IAN injury remain mainly supportive. Corticosteroids are mostly used during the acute phase to alleviate edema and inflammation, while microsurgical interventions, pharmacologic neuroregulators, and local anesthetics are administered in some cases. Although these strategies may mitigate secondary injury or enhance symptom control, they do not directly address the multifactorial biological signaling regulating nerve regeneration. As a result, treatment outcomes remain variable, and no universally accepted regenerative treatment has emerged for daily clinical application.

Recently, regenerative peptides have garnered attention as promising biologic regulators of tissue healing and neural regeneration. Contrary to traditional treatments that target isolated components of the injury pathway, numerous peptide-mediated agents demonstrate pleiotropic activities that affect several regenerative cascades concurrently. Preclinical studies suggest that Body Protection Compound-157 (BPC-157) may enhance cytoprotection, endothelial stability, and angiogenesis while regulating inflammatory pathways. Similarly, TB-500, a derivative of thymosin β4, has been associated with enhanced cellular migration, cytoskeletal remodeling, and tissue healing in experimental models. ARA-290 has shown tissue-protective and immunoregulatory features in preclinical and selected early clinical studies. Nonetheless, these mechanisms have not been directly shown in patients with IAN injury and should be regarded as biologically plausible hypotheses rather than established clinical mechanisms.

A recent case report published in Frontiers in Oral Health presents three clinical cases of IAN injury managed with a multimodal peptide-mediated approach comprising peptide agents, adjunctive dexamethasone, and local anesthesia. The first case involved a 38-year-old female with a prior history of Le Fort orthognathic surgery who experienced failure of a dental implant at site #30, related to cyst formation, localized bone necrosis, and abscess formation. Within 24 hours after reimplantation, she reported right-sided mandibular paresthesia. CBCT imaging revealed that the implant was placed in proximity to the IAN canal, nearly 2 mm away, without direct canal violation. The clinical findings were consistent with an indirect IAN injury, possibly associated with compression, edema, or local inflammatory responses rather than direct nerve transection.

The second case involved an 85-year-old patient who experienced failure of a dental implant at site #30. The implant was extracted utilizing a trephine bur, and the osteotomy site was grafted with platelet-rich fibrin. Within 24 hours post-surgery, the patient reported right-sided mandibular paresthesia extending from the chin to the ipsilateral oral commissure. CBCT imaging showed that the osteotomy site was in proximity to the IAN canal, around 2 mm away, with no indication of direct canal penetration. The observations indicated a compression-associated or indirect IAN injury. The third case involved a 48-year-old female who presented after extraction of a tooth and subsequent bone grafting in the right posterior mandible. Postoperatively, she reported enduring numbness on the right side of the mandible, affecting the lower lip and chin. Periapical and panoramic radiographs showed tooth-related pathology directly associated with the IAN canal before extraction, reflecting a potentially more severe injury pattern.

All three patients received weekly localized intraoral submucosal infiltrations over a period of 4 weeks, utilizing the same multimodal protocol consisting of peptide agents (ARA-290 [4 mg], TB-500 [10 mg], and BPC-157 [1 mg]) together with dexamethasone (8 mg) and bupivacaine 0.5% with 1:200,000 epinephrine (3.6 mL). Injections were precisely targeted to the affected sensory distribution. During follow-up, all three patients reported gradual enhancement in neurosensory symptoms. In the first case, the previously documented area of paresthesia had substantially decreased, with only a minor residual region of hypoesthesia (almost 3 mm) persisting inferior to the vermilion border of the lower lip. In the second case, the paresthetic region had significantly diminished in size, with only a minor residual area of diminished sensation (nearly 2 mm) persisting at the lateral aspect of the chin. In the third case, the subjective numbness had diminished by nearly 95%, with almost complete resolution of the affected region. A six-month follow-up revealed satisfactory hard tissue repair, and functional recovery was adequate to enable the placement of dental implants in the previously affected area without complications. No treatment-associated adverse events were documented in any of the three cases.

Despite these promising findings, numerous alternative interpretations must be considered. Spontaneous recovery is a well-established phenomenon after minor IAN injury, especially in instances of limited axonotmesis and neuropraxia. Hence, it remains indeterminate to what extent the documented recovery was due to intervention rather than the inherent healing trajectory. Additionally, the multimodal essence of the approach impedes the detection of the contribution of any singular element. The observable advantages may stem from one agent, a subset of agents, or associations among several treatments. The likelihood of observer bias and placebo effects must also be recognized, especially since outcome evaluation depended mainly on clinical assessment and patient-documented sensory enhancements. Since this was an uncontrolled observational case series, these outcomes should not be interpreted as evidence of intervention efficacy. Spontaneous recovery, placebo effects, regression to the mean, variability in injury severity, and the simultaneous use of dexamethasone and local anesthetic all represent plausible alternative explanations for the observed clinical course.

Many limitations require recognition. The limited sample size, absence of a control group, and non-randomized treatment allocation are significant constraints. An additional limitation is the absence of standardized quantitative neurosensory evaluation. Recovery was mainly assessed using routine clinical examination, patient-reported changes in sensation, and serial photographic documentation. Objective examinations, such as validated patient-reported outcome measures, visual analog pain scores, electrophysiological studies, quantitative sensory testing, thermal discrimination, pin-prick testing, two-point discrimination, and static light-touch testing, were not obtained prospectively. Hence, the magnitude of sensory recovery cannot be objectively quantified or directly compared with other published studies using standardized neurosensory outcome measures. Another important limitation is the inability to isolate the effects of the peptide components from those of adjunctive therapy. All three patients received an identical multimodal protocol, making it impossible to determine whether the observed clinical course resulted from one agent, a combination of agents, associations among interventions, or the expected natural history of recovery. Moreover, follow-up duration was inconsistent, restricting evaluation of long-term stability. Furthermore, the long-term safety profiles, pharmacokinetics, optimal dosing approaches, and regulatory status of many peptide-mediated agents remain inadequately characterized.

Future investigations should emphasize prospective controlled trials assessing peptide-mediated regenerative approaches in patients with well-characterized IAN injuries. Longer follow-ups, imaging-dependent evaluation, quantitative sensory assessments, and standardized neurosensory outcome measures will be required to identify whether these interventions offer a significant advantage beyond traditional management and spontaneous healing. Finally, comparative studies assessing isolated versus combination peptide interventions may facilitate clarifying potential synergistic impacts and determining optimal therapeutic strategies. The present study describes three patients with IAN injury who experienced neurosensory recovery during follow-up after receiving a multimodal peptide-mediated protocol. Because of the uncontrolled observational design, lack of randomization, blinding, standardized neurosensory evaluation, and untreated controls, these findings should not be interpreted as evidence of treatment efficacy or causality. Rather, these cases represent hypothesis-generating clinical observations that support further prospective controlled trials assessing the biological rationale and potential role of regenerative peptide-mediated strategies in the management of IAN injury.

Subject of Research: Regenerative peptides as adjuncts for inferior alveolar nerve injury repair

Article Title: Case Report: Regenerative peptides for Inferior alveolar nerve injury: a narrative review with hypothesis-generating three clinical cases

Article References: Froum, S., Estrin, N., Pico, G., Yakubov, M., Ahmad, P., & LaValle, J. (2026). Case Report: Regenerative peptides for Inferior alveolar nerve injury: a narrative review with hypothesis-generating three clinical cases. Frontiers in Oral Health, 7, Article 1907109. https://doi.org/10.3389/froh.2026.1907109

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.3389/froh.2026.1907109

Keywords: inferior alveolar nerve, regenerative peptides, BPC-157, TB-500, ARA-290, nerve regeneration, oral and maxillofacial surgery, dental implants, case report, neurosensory recovery, Case, Report

The editorial frames the field around three interconnected pillars. The first is digital precision and implant stability, the second minimally invasive and regenerative strategies, and the third complex implant-based rehabilitation judged by patient-centered outcomes. This structure is not arbitrary. Each pillar addresses one of the persistent challenges the editors identify: maintaining long-term implant stability, minimizing surgical complications, refining digital workflows, and customizing treatment for increasingly difficult scenarios, from severe bone atrophy to post-oncological reconstruction. Together, the collected studies trace the full arc of an implant’s life, from surface chemistry and surgical execution to long-term comparative performance.

Digital technology sits at the heart of the first pillar. Salviati and colleagues describe a fully digital workflow for dental autotransplantation, reporting high surgical accuracy in a prospective cohort, while Schwärzler and colleagues show in a preclinical micro-CT study that milled surgical guides outperform freehand placement of orthodontic implants. The message is consistent across both studies: when the surgical plan is transferred from screen to patient through a rigid, digitally fabricated template, operator-dependent variability shrinks. That matters because even millimeter-scale deviations in implant position can compromise the prosthetic outcome, the proximity to vital structures, and the long-term load distribution around the fixture.

But precision is only half of the stability story. The implant itself is an engineered device whose geometry and surface chemistry determine how mechanical forces are transmitted to bone. Alagl and Madi demonstrate the antibacterial potential of biomimetic hydroxyapatite-functionalized titanium surfaces against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, two pathogens implicated in peri-implant infections. Li and colleagues characterize how implant material and lingual inclination affect stress distribution in narrow-diameter posterior implants, where limited bone volume leaves little margin for error. These findings align with broader evidence that implant macro-design and the osteotomy preparation technique jointly determine primary stability, the mechanical anchorage achieved at placement that must carry the implant through the months of biological osseointegration that follow.

Stability itself was measured directly in two further contributions. Alvitez-Temoche and colleagues investigated heat generation during osteotomy across different drill diameters and implant systems, a critical variable because temperatures above a biological threshold can cause thermal necrosis of bone and jeopardize osseointegration. Al-Hity and colleagues monitored the resonance-frequency stability of a one-piece conometric implant system over a six-month healing period, tracking the transition from primary mechanical stability to secondary biological stability in real time. On the evidence-synthesis side, an umbrella review by Arbildo-Vega and colleagues found that short implants perform similarly to standard-length implants, offering a less invasive option in atrophic ridges, while case-series evidence supports subperiosteal implants as a viable alternative when even short implants are not feasible. Survey data on antibiotic prophylaxis prescribing patterns among clinicians, meanwhile, underline that successful outcomes depend not only on device design but on standardized perioperative management.

The second pillar documents a decisive shift toward biologically driven, tissue-sparing surgery. Omer and colleagues synthesize current evidence on the role of third molars in mandibular fractures, and parallel studies show reduced postoperative swelling with piezosurgery-assisted third molar removal and support piezoelectric surgery as a bone-preserving option for the conservative management of odontogenic tumors such as unicystic ameloblastoma. Piezoelectric instruments cut mineralized tissue selectively while sparing soft tissue, nerves, and vessels, which translates directly into less surgical morbidity. The regenerative side of this pillar is equally striking: Taymour and colleagues explore oral stem cells combined with hydrogels for periodontal tissue engineering, Almutiri and colleagues confirm the efficacy of platelet-rich fibrin for closing oroantral communications, and Madi and colleagues compare two deproteinized bone graft materials for socket preservation, both supporting new bone formation.

Sinus floor elevation, one of the most common pre-prosthetic bone augmentation procedures, receives particular attention. A narrative review of the lateral-window technique surveys the types of grafts available for maxillary sinus lift grafting, a randomized clinical trial demonstrates successful osseointegration of implants placed in composite, sinus-grafted bone, and a histomorphometric clinical study documents how the surgically created antrostomy heals after sinus floor elevation in humans. Across these studies, minimally invasive procedures and biologically active adjuncts emerge as complementary strategies: the goal is to reduce surgical trauma while maintaining the predictable clinical outcomes that patients and clinicians demand.

The third pillar pushes implant dentistry into its most demanding territory, rehabilitation after head and neck oncological surgery. Attia and colleagues report on the relationship between fibula free flap complications and implant outcomes, Ci and colleagues describe the management of thick skin flaps after fibula flap reconstruction, and Chatzidou and colleagues present an implant-assisted partial denture guided by the neutral zone concept after fibular reconstruction. The fibula free flap, in which a segment of vascularized leg bone is transferred to reconstruct the jaw, has become the workhorse of mandibular reconstruction, but its overlying soft tissue and altered anatomy complicate implant placement and prosthetic design. These studies show that implant dentistry is now an integral part of multidisciplinary cancer rehabilitation, extending well beyond implant placement itself to encompass soft-tissue management and full prosthetic restoration.

Function and patient experience complete the picture. Ye and colleagues compare chewing efficiency between zygomatic and conventional implant-supported restorations, an area in which careful three-dimensional radiographic assessment of malar bone engagement remains essential for predictable surgical planning, since zygomatic implants anchor in the cheekbone when the maxilla cannot support conventional fixtures. Ozgur and colleagues validate the Implant Treatment Experience and Knowledge Scale, or ITEKS, a new patient-reported outcome measure for implant therapy, giving researchers a standardized instrument for capturing what patients actually experience. At a broader level, Shenoy and colleagues review four decades of literature on the causes of implant failure and available retrieval techniques. The editorial’s conclusion is unambiguous: clinical success cannot be measured by survival rates alone, but must also account for how patients experience treatment and how the field consolidates its accumulated evidence.

Looking forward, the editors highlight dynamic navigation and robotic-assisted surgery as the technologies most likely to reshape the next decade. Dynamic navigation provides real-time, continuously updated visual guidance during osteotomy preparation and implant placement, while robotic-assisted platforms add haptic guidance or automated control of the surgical handpiece, further minimizing operator-dependent variability. A recent systematic review found that robot-guided techniques achieved the smallest linear deviations, while dynamic navigation showed comparable linear accuracy and lower angular deviations in several studies, though limited comparative clinical evidence does not yet support definitive conclusions about superiority. An overview of dynamic and robotic computer-assisted implant surgery similarly concluded that both approaches achieve clinically acceptable accuracy, with robotic systems often slightly more precise, but high costs, longer setup times, and a demanding learning curve remain barriers to widespread adoption. The editors’ verdict is that these technologies will complement rather than replace static guided workflows, offering greater real-time adaptability in complex or anatomically challenging cases. The next challenge, they argue, is to translate these advances into robust, reproducible clinical evidence: prospective and comparative studies to validate emerging digital workflows and biomaterials, standardized patient-reported outcomes, and a sharper focus on preventing and managing complications in the most complex clinical scenarios.

Subject of Research: Current trends in oral surgery and dental implantology, including digital workflows, implant stability, regenerative techniques, and robotic-assisted surgery

Article Title: Editorial: Current trends in oral surgery and implantology

Article References: Antonelli, A., Apaza Alccayhuaman, K. A., & Correia, F. (2026). Editorial: Current trends in oral surgery and implantology. Frontiers in Oral Health, 7, Article 2005603. https://doi.org/10.3389/froh.2026.2005603

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.3389/froh.2026.2005603

Keywords: oral surgery, implantology, dental implants, digital dentistry, implant stability, regenerative dentistry, piezosurgery, bone grafting, zygomatic implants, robotic surgery, dynamic navigation, patient-reported outcomes

The study, published in Frontiers in Oral Health, examined patients treated between December 2020 and November 2025 at the Department of Integrated Therapies in Otolaryngology. Of 165 consecutive patients evaluated for suspected sinonasal disease, 111 had sinusitis without any foreign body, 6 carried a maxillary foreign body without sinusitis, and 48 presented the combination that formed the core of the analysis: odontogenic maxillary sinusitis accompanied by a foreign object in the sinus. The male-to-female ratio in the overall cohort was almost exactly even, at 1.01, and 129 of the patients suffered the chronic form of the disease, defined by symptoms persisting for more than three months, while 26 presented acutely.

Odontogenic sinusitis, as the condition is known, occupies a distinctive position in sinus pathology. Under the European Position Paper on Rhinosinusitis and Nasal Polyps 2020 classification, it is categorized as a secondary chronic rhinosinusitis, a localized disease with an anatomically unilateral distribution. The dominant mechanism is periapical or periodontal infection arising from a maxillary posterior tooth, in which inflammatory exudate erodes through the bone separating the dental apex from the sinus floor and drains into the cavity. Periapical lesions account for roughly 73 percent of cases, oroantral fistulae for 23 percent, and retained teeth for 4 percent, according to figures cited in the literature. The disease develops unilaterally in over 90 percent of cases, and between 85 and 90 percent of patients experience symptoms on the same side as the dental problem.

Recognizing the condition remains a diagnostic challenge. The most frequent complaints are facial pain or pressure, postnasal drip, nasal obstruction, and unilateral purulent discharge often accompanied by a foul odor or taste, yet dental pain is frequently absent, which can steer clinicians away from the true cause. Computed tomography typically shows partial to complete opacification of the maxillary sinus in 70 to 100 percent of cases, but dental pathology is reportedly overlooked in 60 to 70 percent of scans by radiologists unless a targeted dental assessment is performed. This blind spot is precisely why the Roman team insists on a multidisciplinary diagnostic pathway: preoperative CT scans were independently reviewed by at least three specialists, a radiologist, an otolaryngologist, and an oral surgeon, while endoscopic findings were evaluated jointly by at least two specialists before any surgical decision was made.

The foreign bodies themselves vary widely in composition and origin. Tooth roots, root canal filling materials, fractured tooth fragments, dental implants, and impression substances can all enter the sinus through apical migration, traumatic manipulation during dental procedures, or an oroantral fistula. Dental implants deserve particular attention. Accidental displacement usually occurs intraoperatively, linked to excessive site preparation, insufficient primary stability, or inadequate planning, but delayed migration years after placement has also been documented, potentially driven by peri-implantitis or bone resorption from improper occlusal load distribution. Resorption of the alveolar ridge combined with progressive pneumatization of the sinus reduces the available bone height in the posterior maxilla, which is both a major predisposing factor for displacement and a contraindication to implant placement in that region.

The surgical toolkit described in the paper centers on three routes of access. The nasal approach, an endoscopic middle meatal antrostomy, involves removing the uncinate process and enlarging the natural sinus ostium to clear diseased mucus while preserving healthy mucosa and its basement membrane, thereby maintaining mucociliary function; the widened opening can also serve as the corridor for foreign body extraction, though the proximity of the orbit and infraorbital nerve demands considerable expertise. The oral approach is a modified mini Caldwell-Luc procedure, in which a full-thickness mucoperiosteal flap is elevated over the canine fossa, a bony window is created in the anterior sinus wall, and the Schneiderian membrane is incised to access the cavity; the antrostomy typically exceeds 3 to 4 millimeters to admit a pediatric endoscope. This modification reduces the facial swelling and paresthesia associated with the traditional Caldwell-Luc operation and speeds recovery. Where an oroantral communication or fistula exists and the foreign body is small enough, the fistulous tract itself can serve as the removal route, after which the defect is closed with local flaps for small to medium gaps of 5 to 8 millimeters, or with cortico-cancellous grafts covered by resorbable collagen membranes, sometimes reinforced with a heterologous cortical lamina, for larger defects.

What distinguishes the Roman algorithm is its explicit integration of three variables that previous flowcharts treated more loosely: the status of the ostiomeatal complex, the size and position of the foreign body, and the presence or absence of an oroantral defect. The decision logic runs roughly as follows. In patients without ostiomeatal obstruction and without an oroantral defect, foreign bodies smaller than 1 to 2 centimeters are approached nasally if they sit superiorly or adhere to the sinus roof, and orally via the mini Caldwell-Luc if they lie inferiorly or are embedded in inflammatory tissue in the deep recesses; bodies larger than 2 centimeters require an endoscopically assisted lateral approach. In patients without sinusitis but with an oroantral fistula, the fistular route is preferred when the foreign body fits through the tract, with simultaneous fistula closure. When odontogenic sinusitis is present, signaled by ostiomeatal complex obstruction, the calculus shifts decisively toward combined surgery: small foreign bodies without a fistula are managed with a combined or purely nasal approach, large ones demand a simultaneous endoscopic and lateral procedure, and the coexistence of a fistula adds a fistular step for closure after nasal removal. For tiny foreign bodies under 1 to 2 millimeters, the team even endorses a wait-and-see policy when clinically appropriate, sparing the patient an operation altogether.

The outcomes lend the algorithm considerable weight. Among the 48 patients with sinusitis and a foreign body, 32, or 67 percent, underwent the combined oral and nasal approach in a single operative session, 12, or 25 percent, were treated orally alone, and 4, or 8.33 percent, nasally alone. Complete removal of the foreign body and complete resolution of symptoms were achieved in all cases, with no major complications and no revision surgeries over a mean follow-up of six months and a minimum of three. Within the broader cohort, ostiomeatal complex obstruction was observed in 77 cases, and 73 patients carried an oroantral defect alongside the foreign body. Under Felisati’s classification, 8 cases were pre-implantological complications, 37 were implantological complications, and 115 were classical complications, reflecting how heavily dental procedures and implant surgery feature in the origins of this disease.

The findings align with a growing international consensus that odontogenic sinusitis is best managed jointly by otolaryngologists and oral surgeons. Felisati and colleagues previously reported a 98.8 percent success rate across a prospective series of 257 patients using a cause-specific algorithm, while a prospective study by Kocum and colleagues found that a one-stage combined ENT and dental approach was used in 94 percent of 364 patients with a 97 percent success rate. The Roman team acknowledges the limitations of its own design: the analysis is descriptive rather than comparative, no formal statistical superiority testing was performed given the small size of subgroups such as the four nasal-only patients, and follow-up relied on clinical symptom resolution rather than systematic radiologic assessment or patient-reported outcome measures. Even so, the authors argue that the relatively large number of patients with maxillary sinus foreign bodies and the consistent application of a predefined algorithm make the results directly applicable to routine practice.

The broader message for patients and clinicians alike is that a displaced dental material in the maxillary sinus is rarely a trivial finding. Surgical removal is recommended when the foreign material causes or contributes to sinusitis, and the choice of route, nasal, oral, fistular, or a simultaneous combination of these, should be dictated by the anatomy of each case rather than by habit or specialty allegiance. As the authors put it in their conclusion, the simultaneous combined approach overcomes the anatomical and technical limitations of each individual access, providing wider visualization and more comprehensive access to the sinus cavity, reducing the risk of recurrence or complications, and representing, in their view, a new frontier in the management of foreign bodies in patients suffering from odontogenic sinusitis. Larger prospective and multicenter studies will be needed to confirm which patient subgroups benefit most, but for now the Rome algorithm offers one of the most detailed roadmaps available for a problem that sits, quite literally, at the intersection of two surgical disciplines.

Subject of Research: Surgical management of maxillary sinus foreign bodies in odontogenic sinusitis using a multidisciplinary treatment algorithm

Article Title: Maxillary foreign body management in odontogenic sinusitis: an algorithm based on a single centre experience

Article References: Sabatino, L., Lopez, M. A., Valentini, M., Mattaroccia, M., Iafrati, F., Di Giovanni, S., Moffa, A., & Casale, M. (2026). Maxillary foreign body management in odontogenic sinusitis: an algorithm based on a single centre experience. Frontiers in Oral Health, 7, Article 1945885. https://doi.org/10.3389/froh.2026.1945885

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.3389/froh.2026.1945885

Keywords: odontogenic sinusitis, maxillary sinus, foreign body, dental implants, middle meatal antrostomy, Caldwell-Luc, oroantral fistula, endoscopic sinus surgery, multidisciplinary surgery, ostiomeatal complex, treatment algorithm, oral and maxillofacial surgery

The biological stakes are well established. Primary stability, the mechanical engagement between an implant’s threads and the surrounding bone at the moment of placement, is the foundation on which osseointegration is built. If the interface moves more than roughly 50 to 150 micrometers during the first days of healing, the body tends to respond not by knitting mineralized bone to the titanium surface but by laying down fibrous tissue instead, a soft interlayer that dooms the implant to loosening and eventual failure. Immediate loading protocols, in which a provisional crown is attached almost as soon as the implant is screwed in, compress the treatment timeline and delight patients, but they expose this fragile interface to functional forces before any biological anchoring exists. The question is therefore not whether micromovement occurs, since it always does, but whether its magnitude stays below the threshold that biology can tolerate.

To answer that question under controlled conditions, the team turned to rigid polyurethane blocks certified by ASTM as standard materials for testing orthopedic devices. Four density configurations were used, spanning the range described by the classic Lekholm and Zarb classification: a block with a thin one-millimeter cortical shell over very low-density medullary foam simulating Type IV bone, two intermediate configurations with thicker cortices and denser cores approximating Types III and II, and a fully cortical block representing Type I. Into each block the researchers placed ten identical conical titanium implants, 4.0 millimeters in diameter and 13 millimeters long, with progressive thread depth and a self-tapping apical tip. Every implant was inserted with a computerized torque meter at a fixed speed of 25 revolutions per minute, a quasi-static protocol chosen to minimize frictional heating and dynamic artifacts, ensuring that any differences between groups reflected the substrate rather than the surgical technique.

The results followed a clear gradient. Insertion torque climbed from an average of 40.5 newton-centimeters in the softest blocks to 66.7 newton-centimeters in the fully cortical ones, with statistically significant differences between nearly all density groups. Initial stability quotients, measured with the Osstell resonance-frequency device in two perpendicular directions, rose from about 64 in the two softest groups to 75 and 78 in the denser ones. Notably, the two softest groups were statistically indistinguishable from each other in both torque and ISQ, a detail that would prove consequential. These numbers confirm what clinicians intuitively know: denser bone grips an implant harder and vibrates stiffer. But the study’s real contribution lies in what happened next, when the implants were actually loaded.

Each implant received a straight solid abutment topped with a semi-circular metal cap simulating a crown, and the blocks were fixed at an eleven-degree angle to a universal testing machine. Non-axial loads of 100, 150, and 200 newtons were then applied, each held static for five minutes, while the machine recorded displacement with a resolution of one thousandth of a millimeter. The contrast between density groups was dramatic. In the softest configuration, implants shifted an average of 235 micrometers at just 100 newtons, rising to nearly 360 micrometers at 200 newtons, well beyond the critical range associated with fibrous encapsulation. The second group fared better but still drifted past 150 micrometers at the highest load. In the two densest configurations, displacement remained astonishingly low, between roughly 5 and 46 micrometers across the entire loading range, comfortably within the biologically safe zone.

The statistical machinery brought to bear on these data is where the study earns the word advanced in its title. Pearson correlation revealed a strong positive association between insertion torque and ISQ, with a coefficient of 0.88, and simple linear regression showed that torque explained about 78 percent of the variance in ISQ values. Yet Bland–Altman analysis exposed a systematic bias of roughly 20 units between the two scales, and the authors are explicit that the intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.86 should be read only as a descriptive index of numerical consistency, not as evidence that torque and ISQ are interchangeable measures. They represent distinct biomechanical constructs: one captures the friction and cutting resistance of insertion, the other the vibrational stiffness of the assembled implant.

Perhaps the most clinically actionable result comes from the receiver operating characteristic analysis, which tested how well insertion torque predicts an ISQ of at least 70, a value often cited as favorable for immediate loading. The discriminative performance was excellent, with an area under the curve of 0.93, and the optimal cutoff landed at approximately 52 newton-centimeters, delivering 89 percent sensitivity and 85 percent specificity. But here the study delivers its sharpest warning. In the low-density groups, implants that exceeded 50 newton-centimeters of torque were not consistently associated with low displacement under load. A soft-bone implant can post respectable torque and ISQ numbers at placement and still move far more than biology permits once chewing forces arrive. Torque and ISQ, in other words, can overestimate primary stability precisely where clinicians most need honest numbers.

The team also quantified the relationship between movement and vibration directly. Post-load ISQ values fell as applied force increased, with the steepest declines in the low-density groups, and correlation analysis across all conditions revealed a very strong negative relationship between displacement and ISQ, with a coefficient of −0.93. An inverse linear regression model, ISQ equal to 78.5 minus 0.047 times displacement in micrometers, explained 86 percent of the variance, implying that every additional 20 micrometers of movement costs roughly one ISQ unit. The authors candidly note that because the data pool observations from groups with very different densities, this strong correlation may be partly inflated by between-group differences, and should be read as describing the overall trend across bone configurations rather than a homogeneous law within each density.

The limitations are acknowledged with unusual transparency. Synthetic polyurethane, however well standardized, cannot reproduce the anisotropic, heterogeneous, and biologically dynamic character of living jawbone; it knows nothing of remodeling, vascularization, or healing. Only one implant macrogeometry and surface treatment were tested, the loading was quasi-static rather than the cyclic, multidirectional chaos of mastication, and the consecutive application of increasing loads to the same specimens introduces a possible carryover effect. The measured displacement also reflects the whole experimental system, including deformation of the substrate and compliance of the apparatus, not purely the micromotion at the implant–bone interface. Within those constraints, the clinical message survives intact: bone density and substrate configuration dominate the mechanical response of immediately loaded implants, and insertion torque and ISQ should be treated as complementary indicators rather than isolated predictors. Future work, the authors suggest, should add cyclic and oblique loading, varied implant designs, finite element modeling, and eventually clinical trials to test whether the 52 newton-centimeter threshold holds in living bone.

Subject of Research: Biomechanical evaluation of dental implant primary stability and micromovement under immediate loading in synthetic bone of varying densities

Article Title: Advanced statistical evaluation of dental implant stability under immediate loading in synthetic bones of different densities: Correlation, regression, and predictive performance analyses

Article References: Gehrke, S. A., Lijnev, A., Skiba, T. H. I., Coura, G., Mello, B. F., Formiga, M. D. C., Scarano, A., & de Val, J. E. M. S. (2026). Advanced statistical evaluation of dental implant stability under immediate loading in synthetic bones of different densities: Correlation, regression, and predictive performance analyses. Heliyon, 12(15), Article e45553. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2026.e45553

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2026.e45553

Keywords: dental implants, immediate loading, osseointegration, insertion torque, implant stability quotient, bone density, micromovement, synthetic bone, ROC analysis, biomechanics, polyurethane bone models, primary stability

A review published in BioMedical Engineering OnLine by researchers at the University of Taquari Valley (Univates) in Brazil argues that the field needs a fundamentally different therapeutic approach, and proposes one built on an unexpected pairing: plant-derived medicines packaged inside microscopic capsules. The team, led by corresponding author Fernanda Majolo and including Jamil Saleh, Bruna Caye, Gabriela Daiprai, Eduardo Henrique Caio and Davi Augusto Togni dos Santos, compiled evidence from PubMed, Scielo, Scopus and Web of Science using search terms covering peri-implantitis, microencapsulation, herbal medicines and local delivery systems. Their synthesis maps out how encapsulated phytochemicals could be delivered directly into the infected pocket around an implant, concentrating therapeutic compounds exactly where biofilms thrive while sparing the rest of the body.

The clinical problem the review addresses is substantial. Current management of peri-implantitis spans a spectrum from non-surgical debridement, in which the contaminated implant surface is mechanically cleaned, to surgical interventions that expose the site for more thorough decontamination and, in some cases, bone grafting. Conventional adjunctive therapies, including systemic antibiotics and antiseptic rinses, come with well-recognized limitations. Systemic drugs reach the implant site only after circulating through the entire body, diluting their effect at the target tissue and exposing distant organs and the gut microbiome to unnecessary pharmaceutical pressure. Overuse of antibiotics also fuels antimicrobial resistance, one of the most pressing threats in modern medicine. The authors emphasize that, despite decades of clinical experience, peri-implantitis still lacks a definitive, universally accepted treatment protocol.

Part of the difficulty lies in the biology of the disease itself. The review highlights that peri-implantitis often presents with greater severity than periodontitis, its counterpart around natural teeth, owing to anatomical factors and the composition of the biofilms involved. A natural tooth is anchored by a periodontal ligament and protected by a cementum-enamel interface, whereas an implant integrates directly with bone through a titanium surface whose microtopography, once colonized, can be extremely difficult to decontaminate. The soft tissue seal around an implant is also structurally different, potentially offering less resistance to bacterial invasion. Because the pathophysiology, microbiota and therapeutic responses of peri-implantitis are less thoroughly characterized than those of periodontitis, the authors deliberately contrast the rich periodontitis literature with the comparatively sparse peri-implantitis data, identifying knowledge gaps that must be closed before new therapies can be rationally designed.

Into this therapeutic vacuum, the review introduces phytotherapy, the medicinal use of compounds derived from plants. Plant secondary metabolites have long attracted attention for their anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties, and the authors argue that these bioactive molecules could help control the bacterial challenge and dampen the destructive inflammation that drives bone loss around implants. The appeal is twofold: phytochemicals offer pharmacological activity against the microbial and inflammatory components of peri-implantitis, and their use may reduce reliance on conventional antibiotics, easing the selective pressure that drives resistance. However, the review is candid about why plant medicines have struggled to enter mainstream clinical practice. In their native form, many phytochemicals suffer from poor stability, low solubility and limited bioavailability, meaning that when administered systemically they degrade, are poorly absorbed, or never reach therapeutic concentrations at the site of disease.

This is where microencapsulation enters the picture. Microencapsulation is a family of technologies that encloses active compounds within tiny protective shells, often only micrometers in diameter, made from biocompatible materials. The capsule wall shields the payload from degradation, masks unpleasant properties, and can be engineered to release its contents under specific triggers or at controlled rates over time. Applied to peri-implantitis, the concept is elegant: a gel, film or rinse loaded with microcapsules could be placed directly into the peri-implant pocket, where the capsules would steadily release antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory plant compounds in the immediate vicinity of the biofilm and the inflamed tissue. Localized delivery maximizes the concentration of drug where it is needed, minimizes systemic exposure and side effects, and, the authors note, can also reduce treatment costs.

The review goes beyond simply advocating for the idea; it sets out the technological parameters that determine whether a microcapsule formulation will actually work in the harsh environment of an infected implant site. Formulators must select appropriate wall materials, control particle size, tune loading efficiency and encapsulation yield, and engineer release kinetics that match the clinical need, sustaining therapeutic levels for days rather than dumping the entire payload at once. The encapsulated compound must remain stable during storage and active upon release, and the carrier itself must be biocompatible and, ideally, biodegradable. By defining these parameters explicitly, the authors provide a practical framework for researchers seeking to move from laboratory proof-of-concept to formulations that could plausibly be tested in patients.

From this convergence of phytotherapy and microencapsulation technology, the review identifies two strategic pathways for clinical application. The first is the development of antibacterial implant coatings: surfaces that carry encapsulated plant-derived antimicrobials could be applied to implants themselves, releasing protective compounds locally to prevent biofilm establishment from the moment of placement. Such coatings would shift the paradigm from treating established infection to preventing it, attacking the problem at the interface where bacteria first adhere. The second pathway focuses on treatment rather than prevention, promoting bioactive molecules that support tissue regeneration. Here, encapsulated phytochemicals would not only suppress the microbial and inflammatory drivers of peri-implantitis but also foster the regrowth of bone and soft tissue lost to the disease, addressing the structural damage that current therapies struggle to repair.

Recognizing that promising laboratory science routinely stalls at the clinic door, the authors devote part of their review to a regulatory roadmap for translating phytomedicines into approved therapies. Herbal-derived products occupy a complex regulatory landscape, and the path to clinical use requires standardized extraction and characterization of active compounds, rigorous preclinical testing, and well-designed clinical trials demonstrating safety and efficacy. The roadmap proposed in the review is intended to give researchers, manufacturers and regulators a shared framework, addressing the stability and bioavailability problems that have historically limited phytotherapy through the encapsulation technologies described, and aligning product development with the evidentiary standards expected of modern therapeutics. Without such a roadmap, the authors suggest, even compelling laboratory results risk remaining confined to academic journals.

The significance of the review lies less in any single experimental result than in the coherence of the strategy it assembles. Peri-implantitis is a growing public health burden as implant dentistry expands globally, and the limitations of systemic drugs, mechanical decontamination and surgery are increasingly apparent. By arguing that plant-derived bioactive compounds, once freed from their stability and bioavailability constraints through microencapsulation, can be deployed locally at the implant site, the Brazilian team offers a vision of treatment that is more targeted, potentially cheaper, and less likely to breed antibiotic resistance. Much work remains before encapsulated phytomedicines reach the dental chair, from validating formulations in preclinical models to navigating regulatory approval, but the review provides a structured starting point. For the millions of patients whose implants are threatened by bacterial invasion, the idea that relief might one day come from microscopic capsules of plant medicine, placed precisely where the trouble begins, is a proposition now backed by a clear technological and translational blueprint.

Subject of Research: Microencapsulated phytomedicines for localized treatment of peri-implantitis

Article Title: Microencapsulated phytomedicines: a localized therapeutic strategy for peri-implantitis

Article References: Saleh, J., Caye, B., Daiprai, G., Caio, E. H., dos Santos, D. A. T., & Majolo, F. (2026). Microencapsulated phytomedicines: a localized therapeutic strategy for peri-implantitis. BioMedical Engineering OnLine. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12938-026-01611-9

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s12938-026-01611-9

Keywords: peri-implantitis, dental implants, microencapsulation, phytotherapy, drug delivery, biofilm, osseointegration, antimicrobial resistance, implant coatings, tissue regeneration, local drug delivery, biomedical engineering

The core insight behind the study is that soft tissue breakdown around implants is not simply a matter of insufficient attachment. Instead, the researchers describe an early pathogenic-immunological amplification loop. Staphylococcus aureus, a bacterium with a particular affinity for titanium surfaces, is among the first colonizers of a fresh implant. Its accumulation, combined with surgical trauma and implant-induced oxidative stress, drives macrophages into a dysfunctional, pro-inflammatory state. Sustained inflammatory signaling then damages fibroblasts, impairs extracellular matrix remodeling, and blocks vascular maturation, all of which undermine the connective tissue barrier that should protect the implant. Disrupting this loop, the authors reasoned, requires a therapy that can target both the bacterium and the stressed immune cells at the same time.

Their solution, called MoSe2@SPMM, is a two-layer construction. At its heart sits a molybdenum diselenide nanoflower, a member of the nanozyme family of artificial enzyme mimics. MoSe2 carries intrinsic multi-enzyme catalytic activity that scavenges reactive oxygen species, mimicking catalase, glutathione peroxidase, and superoxide dismutase. It also converts near-infrared light into heat efficiently, and the material’s molybdenum and selenium components are individually associated with favorable biocompatibility. Wrapped around this reactive core is a cell membrane shell harvested from macrophages that had been deliberately pre-stimulated with S. aureus. The coating is applied through ultrasonication and extrusion, leaving a continuous membranous shell visible in transmission electron microscopy around a particle roughly 218 nanometers in hydrodynamic diameter before coating.

The choice of a bacteria-stimulated membrane is the study’s most elegant twist. Proteomic profiling of macrophages after S. aureus exposure revealed 534 upregulated and 235 downregulated proteins, with enrichment overwhelmingly concentrated in bacterial recognition, pattern-recognition-receptor signaling, and Toll-like receptor pathways. Follow-up transcriptional and protein analyses showed that TLR2, TLR6, and the scavenger receptor CD36 were selectively upregulated on the macrophage membrane, while virus-associated receptors stayed flat. When these membranes were transferred onto MoSe2, Western blots confirmed the nanoparticles retained elevated levels of all three recognition molecules. The result is a nanoparticle dressed in a molecular disguise that bacteria find irresistible to bind, and one that other macrophages recognize as kin.

Laboratory testing bore out the dual-targeting hypothesis. Compared with nanoparticles coated in unstimulated macrophage membranes, red blood cell membranes, or synthetic DOPC lipid shells, MoSe2@SPMM showed dramatically stronger binding to S. aureus in both scanning electron and confocal microscopy, while showing no such preference for E. coli, a sign of genuine selectivity. When near-infrared light at 808 nanometers was applied, the bound particles converted light to heat at the bacterial surface, producing what the authors call targeted contact-enhanced photothermal killing. Bacterial membranes roughened, perforated, and collapsed, and colony assays showed the treatment dramatically outperformed controls. Against biofilms, which are far more resistant and clinically relevant, the particles not only suppressed formation but also disrupted established structures, killing bacteria throughout the biofilm depth rather than only at the surface.

The second axis of action operates inside immune cells. Because the coating carries homotypic recognition features, MoSe2@SPMM is preferentially internalized by macrophages themselves, while fibroblasts and endothelial cells take up far less of it. Once inside oxidative-stress-injured macrophages, the nanoparticle’s enzymatic core mops up excess reactive oxygen species. In vitro, the particles removed roughly 75 to 88 percent of hydrogen peroxide within an hour at moderate concentrations, generated dissolved oxygen, and quenched both superoxide and hydroxyl radicals in electron spin resonance assays, with activity persisting over repeated catalytic cycles. In cells, treatment lowered intracellular ROS, restored mitochondrial membrane potential, suppressed the pro-inflammatory marker iNOS, revived the repair-associated marker Arg-1, and shifted the secretome away from TNF-alpha and IL-6 toward IL-10 and TGF-beta.

Those cellular changes rippled outward to the tissue-building cells that determine whether a soft tissue seal can form. Conditioned medium from MoSe2@SPMM-treated macrophages restored the proliferation, migration, and tube-forming capacity of vascular endothelial cells under oxidative stress, accompanied by recovered expression of VEGF-A and FGF2, two master regulators of angiogenesis. Fibroblasts responded similarly, regaining migration and adhesion while rebuilding focal adhesion protein vinculin, fibronectin 1, and both collagen I and collagen III, the structural foundation of the peri-implant connective tissue. Biosafety testing was reassuring: the particles were compatible with cells up to 200 micrograms per milliliter, caused negligible hemolysis, and produced no histological, hematological, or liver and kidney abnormalities in treated animals.

The decisive test came in a rat maxillary implantation model in which S. aureus was inoculated at the peri-implant site to simulate early post-surgical stress. Under localized near-infrared irradiation, MoSe2@SPMM reduced the peri-implant bacterial burden by 91.4 percent, substantially outperforming both control coatings. Immunofluorescence at day 7 showed a marked shift in macrophage identity, with fewer iNOS-positive pro-inflammatory cells and more Arg-1-positive repair-associated cells. By day 28, the treated implants displayed denser alpha-SMA-positive vascular maturation, a 1.7-fold increase in peri-implant connective tissue width, 67.1 percent greater collagen deposition with better fiber organization, 61.4 percent higher integrin expression at the tissue-implant interface, and a 2.3-fold increase in angiogenesis. The animals developed a continuous epithelial barrier and reduced inflammatory infiltration, hallmarks of robust soft tissue integration.

What distinguishes this platform from conventional implant surface engineering is its mode of delivery and breadth of function. Surface-bound coatings fight a losing battle against the oral environment, gradually losing bioactivity and offering only single-function protection. MoSe2@SPMM, by contrast, is designed for local administration at the implant-soft tissue interface, potentially injected around the transgingival neck during early healing or under high-risk inflammatory conditions, then activated with intraoral near-infrared probes. The authors also suggest the design principle could extend beyond dentistry to orthopedic and percutaneous devices, wherever bacterial colonization, oxidative stress, and dysregulated inflammation jointly sabotage tissue repair.

Challenges remain before clinical translation. The rat model used controlled S. aureus inoculation rather than the polymicrobial biofilms characteristic of established human peri-implantitis, so real-world efficacy will need confirmation in more complex settings. Optimal treatment windows, irradiation parameters, repeat dosing schedules, and scalable membrane-coating manufacturing all require refinement. Yet the conceptual achievement is clear: by teaching a nanoparticle to hunt one specific bacterium and simultaneously nurse the immune cells back to health, the researchers have demonstrated that targeted antibacterial action and redox-mediated immune regulation can be fused into a single therapy, offering a genuinely new strategy for protecting the fragile seal on which every dental implant ultimately depends.

Subject of Research: Dual-targeted biomimetic MoSe2 nanozymes coated with S. aureus-stimulated macrophage membranes for enhancing peri-implant soft tissue integration

Article Title: Dual‐Targeted Biomimetic MoSe2 Nanozymes for Enhancing Peri‐Implant Soft Tissue Integration

Article References: Zhou, M., Tian, M., Yu, J., Kang, J., Chen, M., Yuan, Y., Liu, L., & Wei, H. (2026). Dual‐Targeted Biomimetic MoSe 2 Nanozymes for Enhancing Peri‐Implant Soft Tissue Integration. Advanced Science, Article e77771. https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.77771

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1002/advs.77771

Keywords: MoSe2 nanozymes, peri-implantitis, soft tissue integration, biomimetic nanoparticles, cell membrane coating, Staphylococcus aureus, photothermal therapy, macrophage reprogramming, reactive oxygen species, dental implants, immunomodulation, oxidative stress

The research team, led by Neha Sharma of the University Hospital Basel and Duke-NUS Medical School together with colleagues at the University of Basel, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Romania, and the University Center for Dental Medicine Basel, set out to answer a deceptively simple question: what happens to the dimensional accuracy and mechanical strength of modern 3D-printed photopolymer resins when they are exposed to clinically realistic sterilization cycles? The stakes are higher than they might appear. Standard steam autoclaving runs at 121 degrees Celsius, but prion inactivation protocols demanded by infection-control authorities require an extended cycle holding a searing 134 degrees Celsius for at least 18 minutes. That thermal assault had never been systematically evaluated on the contemporary biocompatible resins now flowing through hospital 3D print labs.

To close that gap, the investigators selected four commercially available biocompatible photopolymer resins: P pro Surgical Guide Clear, ProArt Print Splint, BioMed Clear Resin, and BioMed Amber Resin. Two additive manufacturing platforms were represented, stereolithography, which cures liquid resin with a precisely steered ultraviolet laser, and digital light processing, which cures entire layers at once using a projected light pattern. The experimental design deliberately worked at two scales. First, the team printed 240 standardized ISO specimens for rigorous benchtop testing of dimensional accuracy and flexural strength, the classic three-point bending measure of how much load a material can carry before fracturing. Second, they printed 72 clinically relevant patient-specific guides representing two real surgical scenarios: cranial resection guides and oral implantology guides. This dual approach ensured the findings would speak both to materials scientists and to surgeons.

The specimens were randomly allocated to three experimental groups. A baseline group remained non-sterilized, a steam group underwent the extended prion-inactivation autoclave cycle at 134 degrees Celsius for 18 minutes, and a plasma group was treated with low-temperature hydrogen peroxide plasma sterilization at a gentle 55 degrees Celsius for 19 minutes. Dimensional accuracy was quantified using root mean square deviation analysis, a method that compares the printed object against its digital design point by point and expresses mismatch as a single deviation value in micrometers. Statistical evaluation relied on two-way analyses of variance followed by Bonferroni post-hoc testing, with the significance threshold set at 0.05.

The accuracy results told a nuanced story. Across the board, deviation was lowest for the simple ISO specimens, averaging 61 plus or minus 24 micrometers, followed by the cranial guides at 119 plus or minus 29 micrometers and the oral implantology guides at 147 plus or minus 45 micrometers. Geometry, in other words, matters: the more complex and curved the anatomy a guide must capture, the harder it is to print true. Material selection proved equally decisive. The ProArt Print Splint and P pro Surgical Guide Clear resins delivered significantly higher dimensional accuracy than the two BioMed resins across every geometry tested, with the difference reaching statistical significance at p less than 0.001. Sterilization method also significantly shifted dimensional accuracy overall, although the magnitude and direction of the change depended on the shape of the object, confirming that there is no single sterilization penalty that applies uniformly to every printed device.

The mechanical findings delivered the study’s most dramatic surprise. Counterintuitively, steam sterilization increased the flexural strength of the ISO specimens to 41 plus or minus 16 megapascals, compared with a baseline of 33 plus or minus 19 megapascals, while plasma sterilization reduced strength to 29 plus or minus 16 megapascals, a statistically significant divergence at p less than 0.001. The likely explanation lies in polymer physics: the intense heat of autoclaving drives additional post-cure crosslinking within the photopolymer network, effectively finishing a polymerization reaction that room-temperature light curing had left incomplete. Steam exposure, in effect, acts as an aggressive post-cure. But that apparent strengthening came with a catastrophic catch that standardized specimens alone could never have revealed.

When the researchers turned to the clinically relevant patient-specific guides, the picture darkened. Every single steam-sterilized guide printed from BioMed Clear and BioMed Amber resins developed visible cracks across its structure. These were not hairline cosmetic flaws; they were structural failures that rendered the devices clinically unusable, undermining exactly the geometric fidelity that makes surgical guides worth printing in the first place. The thinner, anatomically contoured walls of the guides behave differently from the stocky ISO bars, concentrating thermal stresses from rapid heating and cooling into fracture lines. The lesson is one the field is learning repeatedly as additive manufacturing enters medicine: benchtop material data cannot be extrapolated naively to real device geometries. A resin that tests beautifully in standard specimens can fail in the operating room.

Plasma sterilization told a more cautious tale. The low-temperature hydrogen peroxide treatment avoided crack formation entirely; all plasma-treated guides remained structurally intact. Yet the method exacted its own price in reduced flexural strength of the specimens, and the authors flag a further unresolved regulatory and microbiological question: hydrogen peroxide clearance, the ability of the sterilant to penetrate the device and then dissipate without leaving cytotoxic residues, has not been validated for these particular resins. The researchers therefore stop short of endorsing plasma sterilization as a default substitute for autoclaving. An intact guide is worthless if residual oxidant could compromise tissue healing, and the data simply do not yet exist to rule that risk out.

The study’s central conclusion is a shift in how surgical 3D printing workflows should be conceived. Material and sterilization method, the authors argue, must be selected and validated as a pair, matched both to the specific sterilization cycle available at the point of care and to the mechanical and accuracy demands of the intended procedure. A high-accuracy resin paired with an incompatible sterilization cycle is not a workflow; it is a latent failure waiting to reach the operating theater. For hospital print labs producing guides under time pressure, the practical message is to consult validated material-sterilization combinations before a case, not after a guide emerges from the autoclave visibly fractured on the morning of surgery.

Beyond the immediate clinical implications, the work resonates with a broader trend in biomedical additive manufacturing. As regulators, including those administering the European Union Medical Device Regulation, scrutinize hospital-produced devices ever more closely, standardized evidence of how fabrication variables interact with post-processing steps becomes essential. This study provides exactly that kind of evidence for the prion-inactivation steam cycle, an extreme but legally mandated condition that most prior research ignored. It also highlights the enduring value of testing devices and specimens side by side. The 61 micrometer accuracy of an ISO bar, the 147 micrometer deviation of an implantology guide, the crosslinking that strengthens a specimen while splitting a guide apart: these are the granular, quantitative facts on which the safety of point-of-care 3D printing will ultimately rest. As hospital printers multiply from Basel to Bangkok, the pairing of resin and sterilization cycle may prove to be one of the most consequential choices a surgical team never knew it was making.

Subject of Research: Effects of steam and plasma sterilization on the accuracy and strength of 3D-printed surgical guide resins

Article Title: Dimensional accuracy and flexural strength of 3D-printed photopolymer resins for point-of-care surgical guides after steam and plasma sterilization: an in-vitro comparative study

Article References: Sharma, N., Burde, A. V., Manea, A., Fischer, J., Thieringer, F. M., & Rohr, N. (2026). Dimensional accuracy and flexural strength of 3D-printed photopolymer resins for point-of-care surgical guides after steam and plasma sterilization: an in-vitro comparative study. 3D Printing in Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41205-026-00352-8

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s41205-026-00352-8

Keywords: 3D printing, surgical guides, sterilization, photopolymer resins, dimensional accuracy, flexural strength, steam sterilization, plasma sterilization, craniomaxillofacial surgery, dental implants, point-of-care manufacturing, biomaterials