Background: Critical factors for the establishment of osseointegration are the implant surface microtopography and the local mechanical environment. The present study evaluated the bone response around a turned (T) and a roughened (R) implant for either an unloaded or a well-controlled loaded situation.

Methods: Bone chambers were installed in the tibia of 20 rabbits. In each of the chambers, two identical displacement-controlled loading experiments were performed: 30 μm for 400 cycles at 1 Hz, three times a week for 9 weeks versus 0-μm implant displacement. A linear mixed model and a logistic mixed model with α = 5% were set to study the significant effect of the surface texture on the peri-implant bone response in the unloaded (T-0 μm versus R-0 μm) and the loaded (T-30 μm versus R-30 μm) mode.

Results: Results indicated no microtopographic dependence of the bone response further away from the implant in unloaded and loaded conditions. For a load-free implant, osseointegration seemed to occur with a higher incidence at a roughened compared to a turned implant surface. In the presence of loading, the topographic dependency of the osteogenic activity at the interface was overruled by the loading-related bone response, revealing no significant differences in osseointegration incidence between T and R.

Conclusion: A predominant effect of the interfacial mechanical environment over the implant surface characteristics on the differentiating cell population is suggested.