Purpose: To evaluate the effect of thermomechanical dynamic loading on the retention of telescopic mandibular overdentures with different metallic and nonmetallic material combinations.
Materials and methods: Four groups were tested: (1) ZP (zirconia abutments/PEEK framework); (2) PP (PEEK abutments/PEEK framework); (3) TP (titanium abutments/PEEK framework); and (4) TG (titanium abutments/gold copings/cobalt-chromium framework). Each specimen contained four implants positioned over a polyvinylchloride-cylindrical base. After 10,000 removal/insertion cycles, the specimens were subjected to thermomechanical dynamic load in a chewing simulator for 1,200,000 loading cycles, corresponding to 5-year clinical fatigue. A screw was used to receive the chewing load, and 0.5 mm was permitted between the screw and the metal top fixed into the base to simulate the resilience of the posterior residual ridge tissues. Vertical chewing loads of 60 N were applied at a speed of 30 mm/second. Thermocycling was applied with a temperature ranging between 5°C and 55°C. The retentive force was measured using a universal testing machine 10 times before and after the thermomechanical dynamic loading test with a speed of 8 mm/second.
Results: The mean retentive force increased significantly from 13.2 (± 4.6) N to 16.4 (± 6.1) N in group ZP (P = .002), while in group TP, it decreased significantly from 4.9 (± 2.1) N to 3.3 (± 1.7) N (P = .046). There was no statistically significant change in the retentive force for groups PP and TG.
Conclusions: The investigated metallic and nonmetallic combinations of double-crown-retained mandibular overdentures maintained acceptable levels of retention after thermomechanical dynamic loading. Further laboratory and clinical studies are needed before their routine clinical use can be recommended.