Method for cleaning the surface of pure titanium as an implant material by abrasive jet machining

On cleaning of dental implants, conventional air blasting to remove dental biofilm may increase the surface roughness of titanium abutments. Therefore, we have examined a method for cleaning using calcium carbonate particles and white fused alumina particles applied by air blasting to remove the biofilm on titanium surfaces. Calcium carbonate particles and white fused alumina particles are widely used in dental application. The test piece consisted of a rectangle of JIS type 2 pure titanium. The initial surface roughness, Ra, of the test piece was approximately 0.050 mu m. Air blasting was performed for 5, 10, or 30 s at a distance of 50 mm from the test piece with an air pressure of 0.5 MPa and particle feed rate of 5 g/s. Permanent marker was applied to the test piece to simulate tooth staining. All particles peeled the marker from test piece, thus confirm the cleaning capability. However, Ra was increased and the glossiness was markedly decreased following air blasting with each type of particle.