Novel hydroxyapatite/tantalum surface coating for metallic dental implant

The aim of this study was to design and produce a novel surface composite coating on metallic substrate in order to improve the biocompatibility of metallic dental implant and the bone osteointegration simultaneously. Stainless steel 316L (SS) was used as a metallic substrate and a novel double-layer hydroxyapatite/tantalum (HA/Ta) coating was prepared on it. Tantalum coating was made using physical vapor deposition process and HA coating was produced using plasma-spraying technique on it. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques were utilized to investigate the coating characterization. Electrochemical polarization tests were performed in two types of physiological solutions at 37 ± 1 °C in order to determine the corrosion behavior of the coated and uncoated specimens as indication of biocompatibility. The results indicated that the decrease in corrosion current density was significant for HA/Ta coated specimens and was much lower than the value obtained for uncoated 316L SS. The novel double-layer HA/Ta composite coating could improve the corrosion resistance and thus the biocompatibility of 316L SS dental implant.