Accuracy of torque controllers on healing abutments in implant dentistry- an in vitro study.

Abstract

To evaluate the accuracy of three torque-control devices used on healing abutments in implant prosthodontics. In this in vitro experiment, three torque controllers, Ankylos® friction-based, Straumann® spring-based, and Anthogyr® pre-calibrated torque control devices were used to tighten the healing abutments of Ankylos® and Straumann® dental implants to a pre-determined value of 15 Ncm. A digital torque meter (DT), Cedar DID-4A, was used to assess removal torque as a surrogate for the accuracy of the torque controllers to apply a tightening force of 15Ncm on healing abutments. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to identify differences between each torque controller and the digital torquemeter, a p<0.05 was considered significant. The torque required to remove the healing abutments was 16.05± 0.66 Ncm for the Ankylos® ratchet, 12.61± 0.90 Ncm for the Straumann® ratchet, and 14.37±1.08 Ncm for the Anthogyr® torque-control device. Significant statistical differences were observed between AnkylosÒ and the control digital torquemeter (p = 1.84E-8 ; F = 50.3); Anthogyr® and control digital torquemeter (p = 0.01; F = 6.79); and Straumann® and control digital torquemeter (p = 0.01; F = 141.15). Friction-based (Ankylos® ), spring-based (Straumann® ), and pre-calibrated (Anthogyr® ) torque control devices present over-torque and under-torque values when used over healing abutments of Ankylos® and Straumann® implant systems. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.