Chapter 20 - Applications of PEEK in the Dental Field

Abstract

Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) has been used for academic investigations and commercialization of several dental devices, such as dental implants, abutments, healing caps, orthodontic braces, and most notably denture prosthetic frameworks. The adoption of digitization to manufacture patient-specific prosthetics is complemented by the processing properties of PEEK. The biomechanical properties of the high-performance polymer in these applications also provide some clinical benefits most likely due to the bone-like modulus of PEEK as compared with traditionally used metal materials. Uses of PEEK and other polyaryletherketones (PAEKs) within the dental field are described. In addition, a clinical commentary based on observations from using PEEK substructures within full-arch implant-borne dental prosthetics is described. The latter aims to test the hypothesis that the peri-implant bone loss and quality of life of edentulous patients usually treated with rigid metal full-arch supported prostheses could be improved by using a metal-free PEEK prosthesis instead. The purpose of this retrospective study was to assess long-term survival rates, treatment success, oral health-related patient quality of life, and satisfaction for patients treated with a PEEK implant-supported full-arch prosthesis. In all, 21 patients, corresponding to 96 dental implants, were treated with implant-supported full-arch PEEK prosthesis. Results. Dental implant survival rate was high at 99.0%, and PEEK prosthesis survival rate was 100%. Bone loss after an average of 54months (4years and 6months) was 0.2mm (±1.0) on the mesial aspect and 0.3mm (±0.8) on the distal aspect. Patient peri-implantitis incidence was low at 1%. The mean total oral health impact profile (OHIP)-14 score was 3.1 points (±3.3) with patient satisfaction deemed “extremely satisfactory.” Similar results were shown in a subset of nine patients with bruxism. Conclusions. It is suggested that the observed improvements in quality of life and clinical parameters could be related to the enhancement in shock absorption provided by the PEEK prostheses, which might help to preserve the bone surrounding the dental implants and reduce patient pain and discomfort even in the case of complex situations, such as patients affected by bruxism.