Titanium implants in irradiated dog mandibles

The use of osseointegrated titanium implants has been a great benefit to selected cancer patients who otherwise would not be able to wear conventional and/or maxillofacial prostheses. Cognizant of the risk of osteoradionecrosis, we used an animal model to seek experimental evidence for successful osseointegration in bone irradiated to tumoricidal levels. Five healthy male beagle dogs received 60 gray to a previously edentulated and healed area of the right hemimandible. The left hemimandible was kept as a nonirradiated control. After 9 months, titanium implants were placed and allowed an additional 5 1/2 months to osseointegrate. At that time, block specimens were obtained, radiographed, photographed, and analyzed histologically. Although statistical significance cannot be attached to the results, osseointegration was achieved in half of the irradiated specimens