Purpose: The objective of this study was to clarify the relationship between the bone resorption around dental implants and bone metabolism. Patients and Methods: Eleven post-menopausal female patients were enrolled in the clinical study. Twenty-three dental implants were inserted in the posterior mandibular edentulous region. Dental radiograms evaluated the alveolar bone absorption ratio （ABAR） of post-surgical peri-implant bone resorption. Bone alkaline phosphatase isoform （ALP） and bone metabolism marker （PICP and ICTP） in serum were measured before surgery as markers of bone synthesis and degradation. A semi-quantitative ratio of the bone uptake of a scintigraphic study at one month post-surgery was calculated. Results: ABAR was not correlated with serum PICP, ICTP, or ALP. However, the correlation between ABAR and the ICTP to PICP ratio representing bone formation was higher than that of each relation. ABAR increased with the magnitude of the bone uptake ratio of the scintigraphic study. There was a relation between PICP and bone uptake: uptake decreased with increasing PICP. Conclusion: Peri-implant bone resorption may be related with enhanced bone metabolism in the region of implant placement. Bone formation capacity is likely to be important for inhibiting post-surgical peri-implant bone resorption.
