In vitro microbiological analysis of bacterial sealing at the interface between abutment and small-diameter implants after mechanical cycling

Abstract

ABSTRACT The objective of this in vitro study was to evaluate the bacterial sealing of the abutment interface and implant in the conical connection of the 2.9mm diameter implant. The research used two sets of screw-in / prosthetic abutment (G1 and G2) for analysis. One group (G1) was previously subjected to mechanical cycling, 500000 cycles per sample, receiving a load of 120N with 30° inclination at 2 Hz. For microbiological analysis, each sample was immersed in Escherichia coli suspension and incubated at 37°C. After 14 days, the abutments were separated from the respective implants, the reverse torque values were recorded and the presence of bacterial penetration was evaluated. Student’s t-distribution and binomial tests were used for the statistical calculations, and a significance level of 5% was adopted. There was no significant difference between the reversal torque values and the proportion of turbid broths. There was contamination in 33% samples and in group G1 and 0% in group G2. There was no significant difference between the values of the reverse torque in the evaluated groups and bacterial sealing with or without mechanical cycling (p>0.05). Therefore, the results of this study showed that implants with platform of 2.9 mm were effective in microbiological sealing, independent of the mechanical cycling, evidencing the accuracy and predictability of the system.

Keywords

• Conical internal connection
• Microbiological sealing
• Small diameter implants