Know your implant connections

Abstract

Background: Implant abutment connection is the point of transition from surgical to prosthetic phase and is the primary determinant of strength and stability of implant supported prosthesis. There are a huge number of implant designs in the market, all claiming to have better clinical results. Materials and Methods: A search of electronic database from 1990 to 2014 in Pubmed search engine using key words like ‘Implant-abutment interface’, ‘Abutment connection’ , ‘External Hex’, ‘Internal hex’, ‘Morse taper’ alone or in combination was performed for critical evaluation of contemporary implant designs. Result and Discussion: There is a pleothora of implant designs vying for supremacy in the market. This review informs the clinicians regarding inherent differences in design characteristics and clinical applications of various implant-abutment connections so as to enable them to chose a design which ensures simplified restorative phase, minimal complications and cost effectiveness.