Norman Kwan, DDS, MS, Yang, Silvia: The Canadian Dental Implant Institute, 206 King St., St. Catharines, ON L2R 3J7, Canada

Abstract:

Recent advances in dental implant technology have been mostly focused on osseointegration; however, current implant prosthetics remains the most challenging part of the treatment.

A specifically designed abutment has proven to be effective in all clinical cases from single tooth to edentulous maxilla. This standardized abutment configuration was incorporated into a screw type implant to become a one-piece abutment implant device requiring only one corresponding restorative component.

Biomechanical studies indicate that this standardized abutment configuration has a retentive force of 56.0kgF (SD 12.2kgF) and a minimum resistant force of one million cycles at 200N loaded on a 14mm crown, 2.5mm from the implant axis at 30º inclination.
235 independent metal-ceramic prostheses (single to full edentulous restorations) supported by 863 standardized abutments were restored consecutively and followed for a period of 8 years. With the exception of maxillary anterior single restorations, all other prostheses were screw retained. The overall prosthetic complication for the follow-up period was <1%. There was no incidence of recast, re-solder or remake of any framework.

The use of a single restorative component and identical clinical protocol simplifies implant treatment by reducing treatment cost, procedure and time; while maintaining primary prosthetic objectives of esthetics, function and long-term stability for implant-supported restoration. The average treatment time for all cases was 3.6 months (+1.76 months).

This treatment method will be demonstrated with a video presentation of an edentulous maxillary implant restoration.

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This research was self-supported.