Laser textured novel patterns on Ti6Al4V alloy for dental implants surface improvement

Creating laser texture on dental implants is a novel method for accelerating osseointegration and prolongation of lifespan. The purpose of this research was twofold: (1) Creating intersecting lines pattern with different angles (0°, 15°, 30°, 45°, 60°, 75°, and 90°) on the surface of Ti6Al4V, using pulse Nd:YAG laser with a wavelength of 1064 nm and a pulse length of 170 ns and (2) comparing optical and SEM images, EDS analyses, contact angles (CAs), and surface free energies (FEs) for different intersecting lines angles. CA and FE depended on the intersecting lines angle according to Y=Y0+Asin(xB+C), where Y is the CA or FE; x is the intersecting lines angle; and Y0, A, B, and C are constants. Oxygen was present on all samples. The lowest CA and the highest FE occurred at 60° intersecting lines. FE was independent of minor changes in the microgrooves' depth, intersections' number, and the number of texture lines.