Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine whether the Periotest device could be used to reliably and reproducibly determine the prosthetic readiness of one-piece ceramic implants.
Materials and methods: Periotest values were measured on one-piece ceramic implants from two manufacturers, CeraRoot and Straumann PURE. Measurements were taken at the time of placement and up to 9 months after placement. The survival of the implants was assessed up to 12 months following placement. Data were modeled on R software utilizing the Cox Proportional Hazards model and Generalized Additive Model (GAM) regression.
Results: In all, stability testing was performed on 320 placed implants in 202 patients. The overall implant survival rate after 12 months of follow-up was 96.9%. The mean Periotest value (PTV) at the time of placement was -2.0 for the surviving implants, while it was only +0.6 for the failed implants. The PTV showed a gradual and steady increase leading up to 12 to 16 weeks. The mean PTV recorded at 12 weeks was -3.2. The Periotest device provided accurate and reproducible stability measurements following the prescribed protocol, thus helping to determine readiness for prosthetic loading.
Conclusion: Within the limitation of this study, the preliminary findings suggest that the Periotest is an objective tool for stability assessment of one-piece ceramic implants. Further follow-up is needed to evaluate whether the Periotest can be suggested as a monitoring device of stability after the prosthetic phase of the implants is completed.
