Retentive forces of two magnetic systems compared with two precision attachments

Magnetic retention devices based on cobalt/samarium alloy are new to dentistry, whereas precision attachments have been used for many years. In this study, the retentive forces of two magnetic systems were compared with two different precision attachment units. The retentive forces were evaluated with an Instron testing machine with a cross-head speed of 0.5 mm/min. Eight samples were used for each of the four attachments for a total of 32 samples. The attachments were embedded in an acrylic block and tested for initial retention and retention after 300 cycles. The retentive forces of the precision attachments were greater than the magnetic attachments for the initial retention. However, as more cycles were completed, the retentive force decreased in the precision attachments and increased in the magnetic attachments. The results were statistically significant among the four attachment systems (p = 0.0117).