A Technique for Repairing a Loosening Abutment Screw for a Cement-Retained Implant Prosthesis

Abstract

Prostheses may be attached to implants or implant abutments using screw retention or cementation. With the increased use of cement-retained, implant-supported restorations for the replacement of missing teeth, clinicians may choose to use a definitive cement to lute the definitive restoration. Loosening of an abutment screw is a challenging complication of cement-retained, implant-supported prosthetic restorations. Often, the abutment screw becomes loose from the implant body, whereas the crown remains cemented to the abutment. In such situations, separating the cemented crown from the underlying abutment or locating the abutment-screw access for removal of the restoration is a difficult task. The purpose of this report is to describe a simple technique for locating the abutment-screw access in the event of its loosening. The advantage of this technique is that it can facilitate easy location of the abutment screw, thus minimizing damage to the existing restoration and allowing it to be reused.