Wear Assessment of Novel PEEK Telescopic Attachment for Implant-Retained Mandibular Overdenture: A Clinical Trial Study

The wear of Zirconia-PEEK telescopic attachments can affect the retention of the implant-retained complete mandibular overdenture.

This study aimed to assess Zirconia-PEEK wear versus cobalt-chromium-PEEK telescopic attachments for the implant-retained complete mandibular overdenture.

Twelve completely edentulous patients were randomly chosen for implant-retained telescopic overdentures construction and divided into two groups, where group I was a patient with zirconia copies, and group II was with a cobalt-chromium CoCr copy. The PEEK was constructed for both groups as a secondary coping telescopic attachment for the denture. The wear measurements of PEEK were performed optically by using a USB digital microscope with a built-in camera connected to a compatible personal computer at different intervals of baseline, 3, 6, and 9 months. The data were statistically analyzed and compared using Student t-test, ANOVA, and Post Hoc Test.

The statistical data revealed that groups II and I, in comparison, showed a non-significant difference in topographic features (RMS) of PEEK at different intervals of baseline, 3, 6, and 9 months.

Within the limitations of the study, there was no significant difference between combining Zirconia-PEEK or CoCr-PEEK for telescopic overdenture procedures. Therefore, it is advisable esthetically and biomechanically to apply Zirconia-PEEK procedures instead of CoCr-PEEK to produce metal-free dental telescopic overdenture.