In vitro assessment of a novel additive manufactured titanium implant abutment

BACKGROUND: Dental implant temporization remains a clinical challenge. A novel abutment simplifying the procedure was developed, but conventional fabrication was costly and unpredictable. A workflow was developed to fabricate the novel abutment using additive manufacturing. This in vitro investigation assessed the additive manufactured (AM) novel abutments to conventionally manufactured (CM) abutments. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The AM abutments were fabricated in dental-grade titanium (Ti-6Al-4V) using Selective Laser Melting and were post-processed. The CM abutments were milled and subsequently laser welded manually. Pin strength of the abutments was assessed using a universal loading machine. Torque was measured by tightening the AM and CM abutments into dental implants within artificial bone. RESULTS: Average pin strength was 364.4 N for the AM abutments and 62.5 N for the CM abutments. Average torque was 49.9 Ncm for the AM abutments and 62.9 Ncm for the CM abutments. AM abutment’s pin strength was higher than the CM abutments. CM abutments measured a higher torque than the AM abutments. CONCLUSIONS: Additive manufacturing with titanium using SLM provided an alternative fabrication pathway of a novel implant abutment. The AM approach was cost-effective, predictable, efficient and demonstrated pin strength and torque suitable for temporization procedures in implant dentistry. Key words:Abutment, dental implant, temporization, medical device, prototype design, additive manufacturing, 3D printing, titanium.