Abstract
The aim of this article is to retrospectively compare bone loss near implants, prosthetic enhancements, and patient-reported outcomes. The comparison is made after implant or prosthesis implementation with platform switching or platform matching. A sample of 59 patients will be selected for analysis. Implants and prostheses were found to perform their function, but abutments with platform switching design lead to less peri-implant bone loss.
Introduction
Maintaining a stable bone level around dental implants is a critical goal in dental implantology. The causes of bone loss around dental implants are still being negotiated; jaw volume, bone quality, and implant overload were discussed as significant determinants of late implant failures as early as 20 years ago. The concept of platform/platform-shift switching is based on the idea that a combined implant-abutment interface shift inward with an internal implant-abutment connection will result in less bone loss.
Materials and Methods
Patients of one dental clinic were studied and selected according to the criterion: absence or necessity of any bone grafting procedures before/at the time of implant placement. Thirty patients
were provided with PS-UNI abutments, and 29 patients received SUB-TEC abutments. Three-dimensional radiological evaluations were performed prior to implantation to determine bone density and implant location. Implants were placed under local epicrestal anesthesia in the healed crests of the upper and lower jaw. The statistical analysis was performed using MS Excel AddIn, WinSTAT, and BiAS for Windows (Gago-García et al., 2021). A normal distribution test was also conducted with Kolmogorov-Smirnov test statistics.
Results
The degree of bone loss around the implant is highly dependent on the stability and design of the connection. The internal connection construction exposes a much smaller portion of the bone tissue. The Morse cone structure has a better sealing ability. In contrast, another study showed less alveolar ridge bone loss with Morse cone connections, whereas internal hexagonal links resulted in better aesthetics (Gago-García et al., 2021). All implants used in the study had the same microtextured neck. The research reported a bone mass loss in the interval between placement of the connection abutment and prosthetic superstructure placement.
Conclusion
Abutments with a switch design are recommended to prevent peri-implant bone loss. To maintain higher patient satisfaction, physicians should also focus on the quality of the prosthetic implant.
Reference
Gago-García, A., Barrilero-Martín, C., Petrakakis, P., de Elio-Oliveros, J., del Canto-Pingarrón, M., Alobera-Gracia, M. Á., & Seco-Calvo, J. (2021). Implant-prosthetic rehabilitation with and without platform switching: A retrospective clinical cohort study. The Journal of Contemporary Dental Practice, 22(9), 1041-1047.