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Published on: June 24, 2018
Peri-implant soft tissue colour around titanium and zirconia abutments: a prospective randomized controlled clinical
Raluca Cosgarea1, Cristina Gasparik, Diana Dudea
1Department of Periodontology, Philipps University Marburg, Marburg, Germany; Department of Prosthodontics, University Iuliu Hatieganu, Cluj-Napoca, Romania; Department of Periodontology, Dental School, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Objectives:
To objectively determine the difference in colour between the peri-implant soft tissue at titanium and zirconia abutments.
Materials And Methods:
Eleven patients, each with two contralaterally inserted osteointegrated dental implants, were included in this study. The implants were restored either with titanium abutments and porcelain-fused-to-metal crowns, or with zirconia abutments and ceramic crowns. Prior and after crown cementation, multi-spectral images of the peri-implant soft tissues and the gingiva of the neighbouring teeth were taken with a colorimeter. The colour parameters L*, a*, b*, c* and the colour differences ΔE were calculated. Descriptive statistics, including non-parametric tests and correlation coefficients, were used for statistical analyses of the data.
Results:
Compared to the gingiva of the neighbouring teeth, the peri-implant soft tissue around titanium and zirconia (test group), showed distinguishable ΔE both before and after crown cementation. Colour differences around titanium were statistically significant different (P = 0.01) only at 1 mm prior to crown cementation compared to zirconia. Compared to the gingiva of the neighbouring teeth, statistically significant (P < 0.01) differences were found for all colour parameter, either before or after crown cementation for both abutments; more significant differences were registered for titanium abutments. Tissue thickness correlated positively with c*-values for titanium at 1 mm and 2 mm from the gingival margin.
Conclusions:
Within their limits, the present data indicate that: (i) The peri-implant soft tissue around titanium and zirconia showed colour differences when compared to the soft tissue around natural teeth, and (ii) the peri-implant soft tissue around zirconia demonstrated a better colour match to the soft tissue at natural teeth than titanium.
