Implant Identification: A Challenge in Maintenance

Dental implants are widely regarded as a gold-standard tooth replacement option and, as such, implantation is one of the most common procedures in dentistry worldwide. There are over 500 manufacturers of dental implant components, each with its own philosophy, build quality and workflow on how their fixtures are to be placed and restored. They can make proprietary components that are patented, unique and not interchangeable or compatible with other brands. This poses a problem for clinicians providing maintenance or remedial care for implants. The identification cascade described in this article provides clinicians with a framework to identify the brand, connection and abutment screw type in order to safely take on the care of prostheses from third parties. CPD/Clinical Relevance: A structured workflow to identify third-party implants, including dismantling and maintaining them, is of value to GDPs and specialists.