US Patent 7771774 - Deposition of nanoparticles on a dental implant

http://ip.com/patent/US7771774

Dental implants serve as artificial roots for prosthetic teeth. In order to increase the adherence to bone this patent from Biomet 3I teaches calcium phosphate nanoparticles deposited on the implant. Claim 1 reads:

1. A method of forming an implant to be implanted into living bone, the method comprising the acts of:

roughening at least a portion of the implant surface to produce a microscale roughened surface; and

depositing discrete nanoparticles directly on the roughened surface though a one-step process of exposing the roughened surface to a solution including the nanoparticles, the nanoparticles comprising a material having a property that promotes osseointegration,

wherein the act of depositing discrete nanoparticles results in deposition covering less than all of the roughened surface such that a portion of the roughened surface is exposed between at least some of the discrete nanoparticles.