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An Improved Mechanical Testing Method to Assess Bone-implant Anchorage
Published on: February 10, 2014
The effect of internal versus external abutment connection modes on crestal bone changes around dental implants: a
Ki-Tae Koo1, Eun-Jeong Lee, Jae-Yoon Kim
1Department of Periodontology, School of Dentistry and Dental Research Institute, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.
Background:
To the best of our knowledge, the influence of external versus internal implant-abutment connections on crestal bone remodeling has not been reported. The aim of the present study is to investigate the influence of the abutment connection on peri-implant crestal bone levels (CBLs) using radiographic recordings.
Methods:
Radiographic recordings from 40 single-tooth implants (20 external and 20 internal octagonal connections; one implant/patient) in 40 patients (15 males and 25 females; mean age: 54.3 years) were selected for analyses. The radiographic evaluation included the following: 1) linear bone change (LBC); 2) dimensional change (DC); and 3) angle between the implant and adjacent bone (AIB). Differences in LBC, DC, and AIB between implant placement and 1 year after loading for each system were evaluated using a paired t test. Comparison of LBC, DC, and AIB between systems at 1 year after loading was done using analysis of covariance. The significance level was set at P ≤0.05.
Results:
Radiographic CBLs (LBCs) were reduced at 1 year after loading compared to those at implant placement to reach statistical significance for the external connection (P = 0.000) but not the internal connection (P = 0.939). CBL changes were significantly greater for the external compared to the internal connection (P = 0.000). Similarly, the DC for the external connection was significantly greater compared to that for the internal connection (P = 0.004).
Conclusion:
Within the limitations of this study, the implant-abutment connection technology appears to have a significant impact on peri-implant CBLs, with the external connection paralleled by a significant reduction of CBLs.