Strain Comparisons for Splinted and Nonsplinted Cement-Retained Implant Crowns

The aim of this study was to compare strains generated by splinted and nonsplinted cement-retained implant crowns for two implants. A stereolithic resin cast was printed using computed tomography scan data from a patient. Two 4 X 6-mm implants were placed in the posterior left side of the cast. Splinted and nonsplinted cementretained crowns were made. The three-dimensional image correlation technique was used for the measurement of strains as crowns were loaded up to 400 N in vertical and oblique directions with an Instron machine. Patterns and magnitudes of strain for splinted and nonsplinted crowns were similar. Results of this in vitro study suggest that splinting has a minimal effect on the load sharing of adjacent cementretained crowns.