The EsthetiCone abutment: three-year results of a prospective multicenter investigation.

The EsthetiCone abutment, designed for subgingival restorative margins, makes it possible to achieve ideal esthetics, function, and predictability. This study included 200 EsthetiCone abutments placed in 50 partial or complete edentulous patients participating in a multicenter study performed in Europe and the United States. The patients were followed for 3 years and the marginal bone level of the implants was determined from intra-oral radiographs. During the follow-up period, a total of 9 of patients were withdrawn from the study. Based on the remaining patients, a total of 164 EsthetiCone abutments (82%) were evaluated through the 3-year follow-up visit. Only 1 EsthetiCone abutment failed during the study period, resulting in a cumulative success rate of 99.2% in the maxilla and 100% in the mandible after 3 years. No bone loss due to the usage of short abutment collars (1 mm) was seen in this study. The marginal bone resorption during the 3-year period did not exceed 1 mm as a mean neither for the 1 mm nor the higher abutments when analyzed separately. During the follow-up period, few complications were reported and they were all easily rectified without compromising the treatment success. The outcome of this study indicates that safe long-term and esthetically good results can be achieved when the Brånemark implants are loaded with EsthetiCone abutments. The reported need of a 3 mm peri-implant sulcus with an animal model was not confirmed with patients in this study.