Title

Influence of different abutment materials on torque maintenance and screw loosening in implant-supported prostheses

Authors

Varsha Patil^1,*, Ramanpreet Kaur², Neelam Das³, HB Mallikarjuna murthy⁴, Rajat Dabholkar⁵ & Ankita Singh⁶

Affiliation

¹Consultant Prosthodontist and Implantology, Signature smiles dental clinic Pvt Ltd, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India; ²Department of Prosthodontics, Oral health sciences center, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh, India; ³Department of Periodontology, Sri Sai College of Dental Surgery, Vikarabad-501102, Telangana, India; ⁴Department of Prosthodontics, SMBT Institute of Dental Sciences and Research, Nandi Hills, Dhammangoan, Taluk Igatpuri, Nashik, Maharashtra, India; ⁵Department of Prosthodontics and Crown and Bridge, Yogita Dental College Hospital, Khed, Maharashtra, India; ⁶Department of Prosthodontics, Inc. Crown and Bridge, MM College of Dental Sciences and Research (MMDU) , Mullana, Ambala, Haryana, India; *Corresponding author

Email

Varsha Patil - E-mail: vmpatil848@gmail.com
Ramanpreet Kaur - E-mail: dhindsar836@gmail.com
Neelam Das - E-mail: dasneelam423@gmail.com
H.B. Mallikarjuna murthy - E-mail: mail2drmallikarjun@gmail.com
Rajat Dabholkar - E-mail: Drrajaatd94@gmail.com
Ankita Singh - E-mail: Singh_ankita_singh@yahoo.com

Article Type

Research Article

Date

Received May 1, 2026; Revised May 31, 2026; Accepted May 31, 2026, Published May 31, 2026

Abstract

Screw loosening remains a prevalent mechanical complication in implant-supported prostheses, compromising the stability of the abutment–implant connection under functional loading. Therefore, it is of interest to evaluate the effect of different abutment materials-titanium, zirconia and polyetheretherketone (PEEK) on torque maintenance and screw loosening after mechanical cycling. Hence, a total of 45 implant-abutment assemblies (n=15 per group) were subjected to cyclic loading of 500,000 cycles at 100 N and 2 Hz, simulating six months of masticatory function and reverse torque values were recorded before and after loading. Titanium abutments showed the highest post-cycling reverse torque (25.87 ± 1.42 Ncm), followed by zirconia (22.53 ± 1.89 Ncm) and PEEK (19.27 ± 2.14 Ncm), with significant differences among groups (p < 0.001). Titanium abutments exhibited superior torque maintenance and resistance to screw loosening compared to zirconia and PEEK, suggesting their clinical advantage in maintaining implant stability.

Keywords

Abutment material, torque maintenance, screw loosening, implant-supported prosthesis, reverse torque value (RTV)

Citation

Patil et al. Bioinformation 22(5): 2786-2791 (2026)

Edited by

Hiroj Bagde

ISSN

0973-2063

Publisher

Biomedical Informatics

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.