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Updated: Jun 25, 2025
An Improved Mechanical Testing Method to Assess Bone-implant Anchorage
Published on: February 10, 2014
Marginal changes at bone-level implants supporting dental prostheses with or without intermediate standardised
Lucía Maceiras1, Antonio Liñares1,2, Lourdes Nóvoa1
1Periodontology Unit, School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
Objective:
The objective of this study is to evaluate the changes at marginal bone level at implants restored with screw-retained prosthesis connected directly to the implants or with an intermediate abutment, after 3-year follow-up.
Material And Methods:
Thirty-six partially edentulous patients received 72 implants. Each patient received 2 implants and a 2-4-unit screw-retained implant-prosthesis. The test group implants received a screw-retained prosthesis connected directly to the implant shoulder, the control group prosthesis were connected through a 3-mm standardised intermediate abutment. Clinical and radiological data were recorded at baseline and at 6-, 12-, and 36-month follow-up.
Results:
At 36 months, the mean marginal bone loss was 0.13 ± 0.18 mm for the control group and 0.20 ± 0.24 for the test group, with no significant differences between groups (p > .05). Clinical variables (Probing Pocket Depth, Bleeding on Probing and Plaque Index) at 36 months also showed no significant difference between groups. Minor complications frequency was 6.7% in the control group and 5.3% in test group. None of the groups suffered from mayor complications. Patient Reported Outcomes (PROs) showed a General Satisfaction mean score in the control group of 9.40 (SD 0.82) and 9.37 (SD 1.06) in the test group with no significant differences between groups.
Conclusions:
Bone-level implants restored with screw-retained partial prostheses with or without intermediate abutments showed similar radiographic and clinical outcomes after 3 years.
