Microleakage Evaluation at Implant-Abutment Interface Using Radiotracer Technique

OBJECTIVES Microbial leakage through the implant-abutment (I-A) interface results in bacterial colonization in two-piece implants. The aim of this study was to compare microleakage rates in three types of Replace abutments namely Snappy, GoldAdapt, and customized ceramic using radiotracing. MATERIALS AND METHODS Three groups, one for each abutment type, of five implants and one positive and one negative control were considered (a total of 17 regular body implants). A torque of 35 N/cm was applied to the abutments. The samples were immersed in thallium 201 radioisotope solution for 24 hours to let the radiotracers leak through the I-A interface. Then, gamma photons received from the radiotracers were counted using a gamma counter device. In the next phase, cyclic fatigue loading process was applied followed by the same steps of immersion in the radioactive solution and photon counting. RESULTS Rate of microleakage significantly increased (P≤0.05) in all three types of abutments (i.e. Snappy, GoldAdapt, and ceramic) after cyclic loading. No statistically significant differences were observed between abutment types after cyclic loading. CONCLUSIONS Microleakage significantly increases after cyclic loading in all three Replace abutments (GoldAdapt, Snappy, ceramic). Lowest microleakage before and after cyclic loading was observed in GoldAdapt followed by Snappy and ceramic.