Purpose: To evaluate primary stability of a new dental implant design in low-density bone sites, compare it with another implant design previously studied in the same bone density, and explore possible correlations between primary stability parameters.
Materials and Methods: The study was carried out on fresh humid bovine bone classified as type III. The test group consisted of 30 DS Prime Taper implants (PT), and the control group consisted of 30 Astra Tech EV implants (EV). All the implants were inserted according to the protocol provided by the manufacturer. After placement, variable torque work (VTW), peak insertion torque (pIT), and resonance frequency analysis (RFA) were recorded.
Results: Mann-Whitney test showed that the mean VTW and pIT were significantly higher in the test group PT compared to the control group EV; furthermore, statistical analysis showed that the mean RFA was slightly higher in the control group EV but without reaching statistical significance. Pearson correlation analysis showed a very strong positive correlation between pIT and VTW values in both groups; furthermore, it showed a positive correlation between pIT and RFA values and between VTW and RFA values again in both groups.
Conclusion: The results showed that the novel tapered implants were able to reach good primary stability in low-density bone sites and that this was superior to parallel-walled implants when measured with VTW and pIT. Moreover, a statistically significant correlation was found between the three methods used to measure implant primary stability.
Keywords: insertion torque, primary stability, resonance frequency analysis, tapered implants, variable torque work
