The physicochemical/biological properties of porous tantalum and the potential surface modification techniques to improve its clinical application in dental implantology

More rapid restoration and more rigid functionality have been pursued for decades in the field of dental implantology. Under such motivation, porous tantalum has been recently introduced to design a novel type of dental implant. Porous tantalum bears interconnected porous structure with pore size ranging from 300 to 600 μm and a porosity of 75–85%. Its elastic modulus (1.3–10 GPa) more closely approximates that of natural cortical (12–18 GPa) and cancellous bone (0.1–0.5 GPa) in comparison with the most commonly used dental materials, such as titanium and titanium alloy (106–115 GPa). Porous tantalum is highly corrosion-resistant and biocompatible. It can significantly enhance the proliferation and differentiation of primary osteoblasts derived from elderly people than titanium. Porous tantalum can allow bone ingrowth and establish not only osseointegration but also osseoincorporation, which will significantly enhance the secondary stability of implants in bone tissue. In this review, we summarize the physicochemical, mechanical and biological properties of porous tantalum. We further discuss the performance of current tantalum dental implants and present the methodologies of surface modifications in order to improve their biological performance.