The influence of splinting procedures on the periodontal and peri‐implant tissue damping characteristics A longitudinal study with the Periotest® device

Abstract. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the capability of the Periotest® device in detecting and monitoring functional changes in the periodontal as well as in the peri‐implant damping characteristics. In the first part of this study, 107 teeth were splinted by means of 40 full acrylic fixed prostheses (AFP) and another 37 teeth were splinted by means of 14 ceramometallic fixed pros‐theses (C‐MFP). The Periotest® measurements of individual teeth were done the day the fixed prostheses were cemented temporary (PTV 1), and again after a mean observation period of 27.4 days (PTV 2). In the 2nd part, 78 osseointegrated two‐stage implants were splinted by means of 23 full acrylic fixed prosthesis (AFP) and other 18 implants were left without it. Using the same abutment length, Periotest® measurements were performed, at abutment connections and before installation of the final prosthesis. In a 3rd part, using both implants and teeth as abutments, 29 osseointegrated implants were connected with 25 abutment teeth by means of 7 AFP. The measurements were performed at the beginning of the prosthetic treatment and 2, 4 and 6 weeks later. After splinting teeth by means of AFP for the observation period, no statistically significant reduction in PTVs was found. When on the other hand, a C‐MFP was used, PTV 2 showed a significant reduction. The PTVs at abutment connection went down after a period of time, during which some implants were interconnected by means of an AFP and others were not. Although this difference was not significant, it was more notable in the implants that received a AFP. In this study, the establishment of a connection between teeth and implants, did not induce any significant change in the damping characteristics of the periodontal tissues detectable by the Periotest®, even after a period of 6 weeks.