Surface roughness control of root analogue dental implants fabricated using selective laser melting

Selective laser melting (SLM) is a promising technology for use in "immediate implantation" to quickly fabricate customized dental implants. However, the implant surface produced using SLM has a high and inconsistent surface roughness, which greatly affects early cell behaviors and osseointegration. In this work, samples were produced with different border process parameters and inclination angles. The surface roughness and morphology of the side surfaces were measured and studied. The results indicate that a large offset value increases surface roughness due to an insufficient energy input, while a small offset increases surface roughness due to an intensified Marangoni convection. Different inclination angles affect surface roughness due to stair effects and the heat-affected zone. Based on the above results, a dental implant was fabricated using gradient processing. Compared with the implant fabricated with a single parameter process, the implant processed with gradient parameters had a low and consistent surface roughness.