Dental Implant Abutments and Their Selection - A Review

Dental implants have become the most promising and accepted prosthetic alternative to missing teeth. Innovative and technological advances in implant dentistry have improved the performance and long term prognosis of dental implants. The growing demand for dental implants has led many manufacturers to enter the industry. With this growth in implant dentistry various implant brands and their components are made available in the markets that vary in terms of design and other features. Success of implant restorations is related to various components involved with the prosthesis. Implant abutment is the link between implant and restoration; right selection of this abutment is vital for the success of implant prosthesis. There are varieties of implant abutments available in the market. Clinician should have adequate knowledge about these abutments and various factors that affect abutment selection, to choose the right one. Each implant case is different and clinician should be able to identify requirements of every individual case and choose the best suitable abutment available in the market. These abutments vary in implant abutment connection, material, type of retention, and fabrication methods. Though the ideal concept is prosthetically driven implant placement, many times anatomical features, esthetic requirements, soft tissue profile, axial load distribution, malpositioned implants, and many other patient factors do not allow ideal implant placement. Such cases can be managed by careful selection of abutments by assessing the clinical requirements, thus offering better treatment outcome. This paper is an attempt to contemplate various factors affecting abutment selection, and throw light on various implant abutments available in the market, thus guiding the clinician in abutment selection. Hence this article summarizes complete information about the implant abutments, including introduction, types, selection, and different abutments available in market. KEY WORDS Abutment Material, Implant Abutments, Implant Abutment Connection, Prosthesis Retention