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implants - international magazine of oral implantology

industry report I the surface of the fin edges with the walls of the os- teotomyensureprimarystabilityoftheimplantinthe implant site. Furthermore, the wide spaces between the plateaus avoid vertical compression on the bone walls and rapidly collect the clotted blood, allowing rapid bone formation without the classic macrophagic and osteoclastic processes of bone re- sorption taking place. Thus well defined bone is formed, with haversian canals and blood vessels which enable continuous bone remodelling around theimplant/bonecontactsurface.Thisensuresstabil- ity of the implant in any situation involving biome- chanical stimulus.2 The sloping shoulder is vitally important for the preservation of crestal bone after implant osseointe- gration and for implant function. The Bicon implant design offers platform switching with a neck which converges from the widest diameter of the first plateau, to 2 or 3 mm towards the crestal zone (con- verting crest module). In our patient, we used im- plants 5 mm in diameter, but the space taken up at crestallevelisonly3mm.Thisensuresboneaugmen- tation above the neck, also because the implant is seated at least 1 mm below the crest during the first surgical stage. This allows the above structures, such as the crestal bone, periosteum and epithelium, to growaroundthehemisphericalbaseoftheabutment and to give sufficient space for maintenance and the growth of the papillae. Anotherimportantfactorforobtaininglong-term crestal bone stability is the bacterial seal within the connectionbetweenimplantandabutment.Ifcrestal bone maintenance and the formation of papillae can onlybeachievedwhentheimplantisplacedinasub- crestalpositionandbyplatformswitchingatthelevel of the implant neck, it is also true that this situation can only be accomplished if the connection is her- metically sealed from bacterial infiltration. Without this feature, the placement of a sub-crestal implant without a bacterial seal would result in the rapid spread of pathogens around vital structures, crestal bone,periosteumandepithelium.Theresultwouldbe bone resorption well below the original crestal bone level. Bicon’s locking taper is a design feature ensuring crestal bone level maintenance around an implant with a convergent sloping shoulder placed subcre- stally.3 The Locking Taper is a precise connection formed by cold welding out of two surfaces of the same material which are brought into close contact with pressure. In this way, the oxidation layers— formedbothontheabutmentpostandonthesurface of the implant well—are detached.4, 5 The prosthetic components (one-piece titanium abutments made fromthesamesurgicalgradetitaniumalloyastheim- plants) ensure maximum mechanical resistance and optimum biocompatibility. The subgingival hemi- sphericbasegeometryisidealforthestabilityofperi- implant connective tissues. The abutments are connected to the implant well bymeansofapost,whichis2mm,2.5mmor3mmin diameter. Implants which are 3.0 mm and 3.5 mm in diameter are suitable for 2 mm posts, while implants of a diameter of 4.5 mm, 5 mm or 6 mm match with I 29implants3_2012 Fig. 5 Fig. 6 Fig. 7 Fig. 8 Fig. 9 Fig. 10