Biological Assessment of Used Dental Implant Healing Abutments

Objective: To determine if healing abutments (HA) can be truly “decontaminated” and to evaluate 4 decontamination strategies, available in most clinical settings, to determine the extent to which biomaterial can be removed compared to new unused HA. Methods: Forty HA were collected from subjects with prior implant placement were randomly distributed and detoxified using four protocols (A-D, N=10/group). Residual protein quantification (N=3/group) and macroscopic debris evaluation (N=2/group) was assessed. Human primary monocyte-derived macrophages (Mφ) were challenged with HA (N=5/group) and supernatants were collected at 4, 24, 48 and 120 h to analyze secretion of cytokines/chemokines. Results: Our study showed test groups (A-D) were not able to be “decontaminated” to levels of new, unused HA. A multiplex analyte assay performed on “decontaminated” test groups (A-D) revealed high levels of cytokine and chemokine secretion. HA should not be re-used due to the potential to initiate an inflammatory response, even after “decontamination” procedures are utilized.