Influence of Drilling Speed on Stability of Tapered Dental Implants: An Ex Vivo Experimental Study.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the drilling speed used during implant site preparation influences primary stability.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eighty tapered designed implants (3.8 × 10 mm) were inserted following osteotomies created in solid rigid polyurethane foam (simulating bone type II) and cellular rigid polyurethane foam (simulating bone type IV). Half were prepared using drilling speeds of 800 rpm (low speed), and the other half were prepared using speeds of 1,500 rpm (high speed). Following insertion, implant primary stability was measured using Periotest and Osstell (resonance frequency analysis [RFA]) devices.

RESULTS: Two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) used for this study found that the drilling speed used to create the osteotomies appeared to have no significant impact on primary stability.

CONCLUSION: The bone quality and not the osteotomy drilling speed seems to influence the implant primary stability.