Measurement of Fracture Strength of Zirconia Dental Implant Abutments with Internal and External Connections Using Acoustic Emission.

Suet Yeo Soo,Julian Satterthwaite,Nikolaos Silikas

doi:10.3390/ma12122009

Abstract

The aim of the study was to investigate the fracture behaviour of four different groups of zirconia abutments with internal and external connections: (A) Astra Tech ZirDesign™ abutment on Astra Tech Implants, (B) Procera® Esthetic abutment on Nobel Biocare MK III Groovy Implants, (C) IPS e.max® on Straumann Implants, and (D) ZiReal® Posts on Biomet 3I implants. The load was applied on the assemblies using a Zwick universal testing machine: the initial and final failure loads and amplitude were recorded using acoustic emission technique. Mean initial and final failure force was found to be significantly different in each group (P < 0.001). IPS e.max® Straumann abutments exhibited the highest resistance to final fracture force compared to other abutment types. Acoustic emission can be used as one of the methods to detect fracture behaviour of implant abutments. There were no significant differences in fracture loads between the internal and externally connected zirconia abutments studied. However, externally connected abutments demonstrated screw loosening and some deformations.

Highlights

Restoration of oral function and aesthetics has led to the increase in the use of dental implants over conventional restorative modalities [1]
Initial and final fracture points can be clearly identified from Figure 2
This study evaluated the efficacy of acoustic emission (AE) analysis in the assessment of initial and final fracture

Summary

Introduction

Restoration of oral function and aesthetics has led to the increase in the use of dental implants over conventional restorative modalities [1]. Dental implants may provide multiple advantages including bone preservation, improved retention, better survival and optimisation of aesthetics and phonetics [2]. Different types of materials can be used to construct implant abutments. Metal abutments may have compromised aesthetics as greyish discolouration may be shined through on thin peri-implant mucosa [3]. More aesthetic zirconia ceramic abutments have gained popularity [4]. Zirconia implant-abutment connections can be classified into external and internal connections [5]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion