Biohorizons PEEK abutment seated

Looking to see if your Biohorizons PEEK temporary abutment is seated on your x-ray?

Is your Biohorizons PEEK abutment seated? Biohorizons PEEK temporary abutment is radiolucent thus it does not show on you x-ray.  This makes it tough to know if it is fully down. Unfortunately, there is no website in existence like What Implant is That to identify if components are all the way down.

Why is it hard to know if the Biohorizons PEEK temporary abutment is fully seated?

Is that Biohorizons PEEK abutment seated? I personally struggle with this because the PEEK temporary abutment is often deep, making it impossible to see clinically. I most often use them in immediate placement situations, therefore the surgical site is bloody and the implant tends to be deeper than where I would normally place it. The chances of an abutment not seating increases with depth of placement. This happens because the deeper the dental implant the more likely either bone or tissue will hold it up.

Examples of different PEEK temporary abutment x-rays on Biohorizon dental implants.

This first one is the contour healer and has a shape that creates a more natural emergence for your custom abutment. They are nice but the depth of the dental implant needs to be close to ideal. Furthermore, there can not be very much bone loss or the bone loss must be uniform. Unfortunately, I’m not sure how you could possibly know that you have this fully seated.

Is this Biohorizons PEEK abutment seated?

Again another Biohorizons PEEK abutment seated on an immediate case. I like to show this case because the implant is deep. The dental implant is at the buccal bone level, which is lower due to bone loss from a root fracture. I expect some bone loss on this but probably not to the height of the implant. It is tricky to know the correct depth when there is asymmetric bone loss like this and it’s even trickier to know if the PEEK abutment is down. I should have gone with Ti abutment like below as that would have been much easier.

 

What does the Biohorizons titanium temporary abutment look like seated?

Well since it is titanium it is a lot easier to see but can still be confusing. Below is an image of a Biohorizons titanium temporary abutment with the patient’s existing PFM as a temporary crown. This is an immediate extraction and immediate temporization situation.

Tricks to seating a PEEK abutment

1. Don’t use PEEK when you don’t need it. Use titanium temporary dental implant abutments.
2. Use a Profile drill system, I believe all implant systems have them. A profile drill will help ensure that you are able to fully seat an abutment since it removes excess bone and tissue.
3. Know your system.
4. Take an x-ray of the PEEK abutment on a dental implant not in the mouth.
5. Use a radioopaque PEEK material (or coating), like Glidewell does.
6. There are some technique sensitive tricks to making your PEEK radioopaque.

To learn more about PEEK material check out our PEEK post! If you are unsure about the seating of your dental implant PEEK abutment I recommend posting on DT or a facebook group. Someone will know and be willing to help you. My experience is people on these sites are willing to help but you may need thick skin. If you ask nicely and do not act cocky, people will hep you! No one is perfect and critical comments will only make you better.

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