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Should You Get A Stock Abutment Or Custom Abutment For Your Dental Implant?
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While every dental implant brand is different, these restorations do have three basic parts: the implant, or post, which integrates with the jaw bone, the crown, and the abutment. During surgery, a dentist will place a temporary abutment, or healing cuff, on top of the implant to protect the site from infection and to help gum tissue heal properly. During a final appointment, a dentist will then remove the temporary abutment and place a permanent abutment that will ultimately connect the implant to the crown. If you are interested in getting a dental implant, one aspect of treatment is deciding whether you should choose a stock abutment or a custom abutment. Read on to learn more.
What are the Differences Between a Stock Abutment and a Custom Abutment?
Stock abutments come in standardized sizes and can be used for a wide variety of dental implants. Instead of being manufactured on a large scale, custom abutments are made in a dental laboratory after a dentist takes an impression of your teeth and surrounding gum tissue. A dental technician will make a plaster model from the impression, which is then scanned with CAD/CAM software and fabricate the abutment.
What are the Pros and Cons of Stock Abutments?
As you can imagine, stock abutments tend to be more affordable since there is less time and labor involved during the manufacturing process. You may be able to see a general dentist instead of a specialist to get fitted with a stock abutment since they are more user-friendly.
The main downside of stock abutments is that they don't always have great aesthetics due to their limited shapes. Anatomical variations—like tooth size, tooth shape, and tooth angulation—can lead to imperfect fits. For example, a patient with a stock abutment might have a small, visible gap between the crown and the abutment. The emergence profile, or the contour of the crown as it emergences from the gum tissue, may look less natural compared to neighboring teeth.
However, one should not write stock abutments off completely—if a person isn't trying to match the emergence profile to neighboring teeth, then a stock abutment could be a good fit. For instance, stock abutments work well with posterior teeth since they aren't noticeable. Stock abutments also work well for people getting screw-retained partial/full dentures. Stock abutments also work well for people dealing with bone resorption, as stock abutments tend to cause less crestal bone loss than custom abutments.
What are the Pros and Cons of Custom Abutments?
As previously mentioned, custom abutments are ideal for improved aesthetics. If you want the most naturally looking restoration, then a custom abutment is a good choice. These abutments work well for anterior teeth (canines and incisors).
The main downside of custom abutments is that they are more costly and may take longer to fabricate; although, actual appointment times may be shorter since custom abutments require fewer chairside adjustments.
If a patient has struggled with gingivitis, gum disease, or other gum issues in the past, a custom abutment may be preferred over a stock abutment. It's easier to keep gum tissue clean around a custom abutment since there are fewer gaps between gum tissue and the restoration. If a dentist thinks you may be at risk for peri-implantitis, then again, a custom abutment may be a better option than a stock abutment.
Lastly, custom abutments may be better options for people with metal allergies. Stock abutments usually come in titanium—the same material that's used for many implants. With a custom abutment, you may be able to have the dental lab manufacture an abutment out of gold-hued metals, zirconia, etc.
Reach out to a company such as Lighthouse Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery today to learn more.
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