Contemporary Sterilization Protocols of Healing Abutments for Reusability: A Systematic Review

Although healing abutments are designated for single use by most implant manufacturers, it is common practice for clinicians to reuse healing abutments. However, there is a lack of adequate references that describe detailed sterilization protocols for reuse of healing abutments.

The purpose of this systematic review was to compile, organize, and describe the most common techniques for the sterilization of healing abutments and their efficiency in eliminating traces of microorganisms.

An electronic search in 5 different databases was performed, including the National Library of Medicine (MEDLINE via PubMed), Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Web of Science, and Google Scholar from January 2000 to December 2020. Search variables included were dental implant, healing abutment, contaminate, contamination, reuse, and sterilization. Studies reporting with a minimum sample size of 10 healing abutments (5 per group) published in the English language were evaluated. Risk of bias assessment was elaborated for included investigations.

In total, 812 articles were identified, of which 8 were included in the analysis. Steam autoclave was the most widely used form of resterilization. Not a single protocol, however, was able to achieve 100% virgin surface of the healing abutments.

Although reuse of dental implant healing abutments is a cost-effective measure in dental practice, thorough surface decontamination followed by resterilization is highly recommended before reuse.

With consideration of cost and patient preference, results of this review would be useful in knowing various sterilization protocols for reusing healing abutments that could lead to more appropriate therapeutic decisions.