A comparative clinical and radiological study of the internal fit accuracy of two different types of abutments above the dental implant

Abstract

Abstract

Background and Aim of the study: The main goal of using dental implants is to restore the cosmetic and functional aspects of missing teeth in a way that ensures the long-term success of the compensation. The compensation is often done over the implant using premanufactured abutments, but because of the problems facing the dentist When restoring the implants using these abutments, from The occurrence of an internal misfit of the abutment within the implant and the lack of stability of the compensation above the implant, and the risk of post-compensation failure and thus the failure of the entire implant system, Other types of abutment design methods have been used as needed, there are castable abutments as well as computer-designed abutments made using a 3D laser printer.

Hence, the idea of the research is to compare the prosthetic aspects of the castable abutment and the printed abutment in terms of the accuracy of the internal fit of the abutment within the implant after cementing the permanent compensation with a follow-up period of one year.

Materials and Methods: The research sample consisted of 32 dental implants with the same specifications (in terms of type, length, and width) (16 implants were restored using the castable abutment and 16 implants were restored using the 3D-printed abutment). Each patient had two adjacent implants so each patient was given a castable abutment and a printed abutment. The internal fit has been studied clinically by direct vision and radially by means of radiographs taken in a parallel way using an intraoral sensor and measuring the internal distances between the neck of the abutment and the neck of the implant using (Photoshop), at different following periods (after cementation,3 months,6 months,1 year)

Result: After conducting the statistical study using the Student's T test, it was found that the distance between the implant neck and the inner neck of the abutment (GAP1) was greater in the castable abutment than in the printed abutments, and the same was true for the maximum internal space between the abutment and the implant (GAP2), where the void was greater for the castable abutment, therefore at a confidence level of 95%, the significance level was much smaller than 0.05, and therefore there are statistically significant differences between the group of abutments manufactured using a 3D laser printer and the group of the castable abutment in the research sample.

Conclusion: Within the limitations of this research and based on the previous results, we found that the clinical performance of the computer-designed abutment manufactured using a 3D laser printer was better and had better and tighter internal fit than the Castable abutments manufactured using the lost-wax casting method.

Key words: Dental implants - Castable abutments - Laser printed abutments – internal fit