Influence of Abutment Design and Platform Switching on Peri-implant Marginal Bone Level: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial with 1-Year Results.

Abstract

The purpose of this randomized clinical study was to evaluate the efficacy of platform-switching (PS) vs platform-matching (PM) implants when paired with a newly designed marginless abutment (MA) vs a conventional abutment (CA) in maintaining peri-implant tissue stability. Marginal bone level (MBL) and probing depth were measured up to 1 year postloading. Eighty implants were inserted in 42 patients and randomly assigned to one of four groups, each with a different implant/abutment configuration: Group 1 (PM+CA), Group 2 (PM+MA), Group 3 (PS+CA), and Group 4 (PS+MA). Data were collected at implant placement (T0), abutment placement (T1), final crown placement (T2), and 1 year postloading (T3). At the 1-year follow-up, MBL was more stable in Groups 3 and 4 compared to Groups 1 and 2. These results suggest that the role played by the implant-abutment connection (PS vs PM) is more important than the type of abutment preparation (MA vs CA).