If an oral surgeon gets to the point where they cannot get a healing abutment off, or conversely, it keeps falling off, it can be a frustrating experience for all involved parties. So for this episode of Everyday Oral Surgery, we are exploring the things that can go wrong with healing abutments and what to do about them! We begin with the situation where a healing abutment has been screwed on too tightly and just won't budge. We lay out the possible reasons for why this could have happened, suggesting that the force of finger torque is more than enough for this part of the implant process. If for some reason it won’t come off, the techniques we cover range from using a torque wrench to the brute force method of cutting a new path in the abutment with a round bur. Moving onto the second scenario of the abutment that won’t stay on, we highlight that in most cases this is due to bone or tissue impingement. It is therefore always a good idea to make sure that your abutment is not being impinged by anything when you first install it. In this segment, we also cover the best kinds of kits to use regarding bone milling and adaptable implants. So make sure you join us today and get all the info you need for successfully installing healing abutments!

Key Points From This Episode:

Using a torque wrench and what to do if a healing abutment is not coming off.
Errors that can happen when the dentist is taking the impression.
Using endo ice on the abutment when the torque wrench won’t work.
Scenarios where the driver port in the healing abutment gets stripped.
Cutting a new path with a round bur or using an ultrasonic scaler.
What to do when the healing abutment keeps falling off.
Impingement on bone and why healing abutments can come off frequently.
Bone mill kits and how to get the implant process right the first time.
Changing hands and other reasons why the implant can come off.
Straumann kits and the value of having a more adaptable kit.
The best kinds of healing abutments to use and when to use one rather than a cover screw.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Dr. Scott Weiskopf

Dr. Grant Stucki

Dr. Grant Stucki Email — grantstucki@gmail.com

Dr. Grant Stucki Phone — 720 441 6059

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