Introducing the UTA Abutment System
Inside Dental Technology delivers updates on digital workflows, materials, lab techniques, and innovation in dental technology through expert articles and videos.
January 1, 2013
Volume 4, Issue 1, January 2013
Page(s):
The expanding demand for single-tooth implant restorations has served as a welcome boost to the dental laboratory economy. Laboratories are faced with diminishing fixed restorative opportunities due the rapidly increasing number of direct/indirect restorations produced in-office with chairside CAD/CAM technology. It is important for the contemporary laboratory to find additional sources of revenue.
The provisional implant restoration is a critical part of implant therapy, especially in the esthetic zone. The benefit of an interim restoration is the esthetic and functional replacement of the missing dentition until a final restoration is delivered. Transitional restorations can also provide shaping and preserving of the emergence profile of the soft tissue, allowing predictable esthetic results. The process of tissue customization obviously affects the esthetic outcome, but perhaps of more importance, it develops a periodontally sound environment. The healthy biological environment assists in long-term esthetic success by minimizing the possibility of perio-implantitis and the associated bone and tissue loss.
As the knowledge base of implant dentistry continues to increase through continued practice and evaluation, it is inevitable that first- and second-stage provisionalization will increase as a routine procedure in esthetic-driven implant therapy.
The increasing demand for 1-day implant provisional restoration service in many metropolitan US markets is a challenging, yet potentially prosperous, opportunity. Time, of course, is the real challenge to overcome.
The following technique using the combination of the UTA Provisional Implant Abutment System and Radica® (DENTSPLY Prosthetics, prosthetics.dentsply.com) restorative material is ideal for overcoming the time issue at a very high quality level.
The UTA system was developed to eliminate the need to inventory temporary abutments from several different specific implant systems. The system can be used for single- and multi-unit restorations.
An important clinical benefit is that the radiopaque abutment material enables the clinician to confirm correct seating of the abutment on the implant. The screw-retained aspect is also desirable to eliminate soft-tissue irritation created by extraneous remaining cement at the margin of a cement-retained provisional restoration.
The components are provided in a kit compatible with six different commonly used implant systems, including Astra Tech, Biohorizons, Biomet 3i, Nobel Biocare, Straumann, and Zimmer Dental. The kit includes machined acrylic resin tooth laminates available in four different shades—B0, A1, A2 and A3.5—with corresponding interim polyethylene ethylene ketone (PEEK) cylinders (abutments), which are available in different diameters for each implant system. The system allows for customization of the components (interim cylinders and screws) for the specific case (Figure 1). To see the technique behind the UTA system, follow the steps provided on the right.
The clinician torqued the screw of the UTA Radica restoration to 20 Ncm into the implant. To protect the screw head at removal, pack a piece of cotton into the access hole on top of the screw head, and seal the access hole with a temporary restorative material.
The application of this restoration is not limited to crown-and-bridge laboratories. Actually, the service model is more familiar to removable laboratories due to the daily demand for a quick turnaround of repairs, relines, and immediate-delivery removable provisional (flipper partial) services. The addition of the Radica system also allows the removable laboratory to offer additional services such as Radica temporary crowns and bridges, Radica resin facings, and onlays on RPD frames with limited anterior or posterior clearance.
The Enterra curing unit can also be used to cure Eclipse® (DENTSPLY Prosthetics) occclusal splint material and Eclipse resin for the fabrication of acrylic transitional partial dentures.
As the contemporary dental laboratory struggles with the challenges associated with a poor economy, offshore competition, and overall downward price pressure, it is great to find new ways of delivering excellent restorations in a more productive manner. The UTA system certainly is an example of this, especially when combined with the Radica system.
David Avery, CDT, AAS, is the director of professional services at Drake Dental Laboratory.
