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Objectives: To evaluate the effects of the abutment material and the connection type on the implant-abutment connection rigidity. Methods: The study evaluated eighteen implants with three different types of connections: external-hexagon, tri-channel, and conical connection. Half of the implants were connected to titanium abutments, and the other half to zirconia abutments, forming six study groups (n=3). The implants were submitted to 1,200,000 load cycles with a force amplitude of 90 N. During load application, the implant-abutment connection rigidity was determined in each cycle. The values obtained were analyzed with the two-way ANOVA test according to the abutment and connection types. Results: Rigidity tended to increase during loading cycles. The abutment material did not influence rigidity (p=0.883). The external-hexagon connection presented lower rigidity than the internal connections, with statistically significant differences (p=0.013). Conclusions: The abutment material does not influence the implant-abutment connection’s rigidity. The external-hexagon connection proved to be less rigid and stable than the internal connections.

Objective: Titanium is the most commonly used material to manufacture dental implants and abutments. Recently, zirconia abutments have been manufactured with better aesthetic properties. However, zirconia abutments are harder than titanium implants; therefore, they could wear the implant surface. Therefore, this article aims to describe a sphere-plane system that can be used to assess the wear that different abutment materials cause in the titanium of dental implants when submitted to cyclic loading. This method can be used to simulate the oral cavity, where the abutment (sphere) applies loads onto the implant (titanium plane). The spheres were made of different materials (titanium and zirconia), and the specimens were loaded for 4,000,000 cycles. The scar size and area on titanium planes were measured with stereoscopic images and analysed through profilometry. Results: The wear of titanium planes was similar when tested against zirconia or titanium spheres. The sphereplane system is a method that can be used to evaluate and quantify the wear of the titanium of dental implants, and compared with methods that use real implants, this system is simpler and less expensive. This method could facilitate further research to evaluate the wear of titanium against different materials and under different testing conditions.