The aim of the present study was to analyse the effect of organic coating of titanium implants on periimplant bone formation and bone/implant contact. Three types of implants were used: (i) Ti6Al4V implants with polished surface (control 1) (ii) Ti6Al4V implants with collagen coating (control 2) (iii) Ti6Al4V implants with collagen coating and covalently bound RGD peptides. All implants had square cross-sections with an oblique diameter of 4.6 mm and were inserted press fit into trephine burr holes of 4.6 mm in the mandibles of 10 beagle dogs. The implants of five animals each were evaluated after a healing period of 1 month and 3 months, during which sequential fluorochrome labelling of bone formation was performed. Bone formation was evaluated by morphometric measurement of the newly formed bone around the implant and the percentage of implant bone contact. After 1 month there was only little bone/implant contact, varying between 2.6 and 6.7% in the cortical bone and 4.4 and 5.7% in the cancellous bone, with no significant differences between the three types of implants. After 3 months, implants with polished surfaces exhibited 26.5 and 31.2% contact in the cortical and cancellous bone, respectively, while collagen-coated implants had 19.5 and 28.4% bone contact in these areas. Implants with RGD coating showed the highest values with 42.1% and 49.7%, respectively. Differences between the surface types as such were not significant, but the increase in bone/implant contact from 1 to 3 months postoperatively was significant only in the group of RGD-coated implants (P = 0.008 and P = 0.000). The results of this pilot study thus provide only weak evidence that coating of titanium implants with RGD peptides in the present form and dosage may increase periimplant bone formation in the alveolar process. The results therefore require further verification in a modified experimental setting.