Effect of fluid contamination on reverse torque values in bone-level implants.

Introduction: Screw loosening is one of the most common mechanical complications within the prosthetic components of dental implants. Clinicians must know if reverse torque values (RTVs) are affected by contamination of the implant abutment screw hole with either blood, saliva or chlorhexidine.

Methods: Forty implants were divided into 4 groups (n = 10). Implants were embedded in epoxy resin and placed in a digital torque meter. Screw holes of 30 implants were contaminated with either chlorhexidine (CG), fresh human saliva (SG), or blood (BG), and the remaining noncontaminated screws served as a control group (NC). Abutment screws were tightened using a hand-held torque meter (25 N·cm). Thermocycling (1500 cycles) was performed, and abutment detorque values were calculated using the digital torque meter.

Results: RTVs were lower than insertion torque values for all groups. According to Tukey HSD Test, blood contamination of abutment screws resulted in significantly lower RTVs (18.950 ± 2.641 N·cm) when compared with controls.

Conclusions: Blood contamination of abutment screw holes was shown to significantly decrease RTVs. Blood contamination may result in greater loosening of implant screws in clinical practice.