Infrared Thermographic Assessment of Cooling Effectiveness in Selected Dental Implant Systems

The excessive temperature fluctuations during dental implant site preparation may affect the process of bone-implant osseointegration. In the presented studies, we aimed to assess the quality of cooling during the use of 3 different dental implant systems (BEGO®, NEO BIOTECH®, and BIOMET 3i®). The swine rib was chosen as a study model. The preparation of dental implant site was performed with the use of 3 different speeds of rotation (800, 1,200, and 1,500 rpm) and three types of cooling: with saline solution at room temperature, with saline solution cooled down to 3°C, and without cooling. A statistically significant difference in temperature fluctuations was observed between BEGO and NEO BIOTECH dental systems when cooling with saline solution at 3°C was used (22.3°C versus 21.8°C). In case of all three evaluated dental implant systems, the highest temperature fluctuations occurred when pilot drills were used for implant site preparation. The critical temperature, defined in the available literature, was exceeded only in case of pilot drills (of all 3 systems) used at rotation speed of 1,500 rpm without cooling.