Title
Marginal fit of titanium and zirconia abutments: Micro-CT analysis
Authors
Harikrishna Modalavalasa1,*, Katta Bhargavi2, Ramesh Ampolu3, Prachi Krishna Kant Pandey4, Supriya Shukla5 & Gaurav Kumar Jha6
Affiliation
1Department of Prosthodontics, GITAM Dental College & Hospital, Visakhapatnam, India; 2Department of Prosthodontics, Drs. S & NR SIDS, Gannavaram, India; 3Department of Prosthodontics, GITAM Dental College & Hospital, Visakhapatnam, India; 4Private Practitioner, Prosthodontist & Implantologist, Mahavir Arogya Sansthan, Bihar, Patna, India; 5Department of Prosthodontics, Manav Rachna Dental College, Faridabad, Haryana, India; 6Private Practitioner, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon, Mahavir Arogya Sansthan, Patna, India; *Corresponding author
Harikrishna Modalavalasa - E-mail:
harikrishna.mvs@gmail.com; hmodaval@gitam.edu
Bhargavi Katta - E-mail: bhargavilatha01@gmail.com
Ramesh Ampolu - E-mail: rameshampolu@gmail.com
Prachi Krishna Kant Pandey - E-mail: drprachi001@gmail.com
Supriya Shukla - E-mail: drshuklasupriya24@gmail.com
Gaurav Kumar Jha - E-mail: gauravkrjha16@gmail.com
Article Type
Research Article
Date
Received March 1, 2026; Revised March 31, 2026; Accepted March 31, 2026, Published March 31, 2026
Abstract
The lack of high-resolution three-dimensional evidence comparing marginal fit and biological sealing between CAD/CAM titanium and zirconia abutments manufactured under identical digital workflows remains a critical gap in implant prosthodontics. Digital workflows enhance implant prosthodontic precision, yet differences in marginal fit between CAD/CAM titanium and zirconia abutments are unclear. Therefore, it is of interest to assess marginal adaptation, internal fit and bacterial microleakage of 60 digitally fabricated abutments using micro-CT and bacterial infiltration tests. Titanium abutments showed smaller marginal gaps (12.4 ± 3.8 μm) and higher internal contact (73.2 ± 8.4%) than zirconia (23.7 ± 6.2 μm; 58.9 ± 11.7%) (p < 0.001). Bacterial leakage was lower in titanium (13.3%) compared to zirconia (43.3%) (P < 0.05). Thus, CAD/CAM titanium abutments demonstrated superior marginal fit, internal adaptation and microbial sealing.
Keywords
Digital dentistry, computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM), micro-computed tomography (micro-CT), bacterial microleakage, implant abutments, marginal adaptation
Citation
Modalavalasa et al. Bioinformation 22(3): 1809-1814 (2026)
Edited by
P Kangueane
ISSN
0973-2063
Publisher
License
This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.
