Comparison of the mechanical properties of temporary abutments made of polyetheretherketone and photopolymeric resin

Background: Provisional abutments are widely used in the rehabilitation of dental implants as it allows the use of a provisional crown in order to restore patient aesthetics while the final restoration is being carried out; most of the temporary abutments available on the market are made of titanium alloygrade V (type Ti-6Al-4Va) and polyetheretherketone (PEEK), a material that exhibits very low adhesion to polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA). Objective: This research is aimed to compare the mechanical properties of commercially available PEEK abutments and abutments made using an additive technique with photopolymeric resin. Methods: Eighteen commercial temporary abutments manufactured in PEEK and eighteen experimental abutments manufactured by 3D printing using photopolymeric resin were used. The two groups of abutments were subjected to compression, bending and adhesion tests using six abutments of each type by test. Statistical analysis was performed with STATA 14 software. The data were analyzed by means of the Wilcoxon Mann-Whitney test, as these were two independent samples of reduced size. Values ​​lower than (p <0.05) were considered statistically significant in all tests and rejected the null hypothesis of equality between the group medians. Conclusion: The results indicate that it is possible to make abutments with good mechanical properties in photopolymeric resin (CLEAR FLGP04) using additive techniques to be used as temporary abutments.