Passant Connection Screw of Dental Implants: An In Vitro SEM Preliminary Study

The use of dental implants in oral rehabilitations has become increasingly common, thanks to the safety and predictability of these rehabilitations. Unfortunately, dental implants, being alloplastic devices, are not free from biomechanical complications, especially in the case in which the connections are complex and involve several components. The aim of the study is to highlight what could be surface alterations using different screwing torques, or by repeating the screwing process several times. In this study, 40 passant screws (Osstem®, South Korea Dental Implant Ebony Gold®) were examined under a Zeiss EVO LS 10 scanning electron microscope (SEM), operating with an accelerating voltage of 20 kV. Passant screws were subdivided into 4 groups: 30 Nmm tightening torque; maximum tightening torque; 2 times 30 Nmm tightening torque; no screwing, new ones (control group). There are no significant differences in the surfaces of the passant screws in SEM images, and the 100% of the passant screws is free of defects or fractures. Surely, further studies and investigations will certainly be needed to allow improvement of these devices.