Effects of two fretting damage modes on the dental implant-abutment interface and the generation of metal wear debris: An in vitro study

Fretting damage at the dental implant-abutment interface (IAI) is a critical factor of dental implant failure, and it has been investigated using fatigue cycle (FC) loading tests. For the first time, we applied chewing cycle (CC) loading onto the IAI to simulate masticatory movements. It was found that more serious furrow wear was induced by the sliding forces present under CC loading. Furthermore, four types of metal wear debris and a markedly higher torque loss rate were observed after undergoing both cyclic loadings. Such debris can aggravate the resulting fretting damage, and an increased amount of large-grain wear debris was generated under CC loading. Therefore, CC loading can be an effective approach for exploring the fretting damage at the IAI to improve implant-supported prostheses.