Abstract
Peri-implantitis is a site-specific infectious disease that causes an inflammatory process in soft tissues and loss of bone supporting an osseointegrated dental implant. The pathogenesis of peri-implantitis involves microorganisms in the dental plaque on an abutment of the implant. Therefore, removal of plaque on the surface of abutment is clinically required for long-term function of the implant. Conventional treatment of peri-implantitis by debridement includes a method of scaling on the titanium abutment surface using a curette-style titanium or plastic scaler, because the hardness of the surface of titanium abutment is not sufficient to prevent damage and the increase in surface roughness by conventional debridement with a stainless steel scaler. However, few studies have examined damage to the implant abutment surface caused by a hand scaler. This study was performed to evaluate the surface changes on a cylindrical pure titanium surface curetted using a curette-style stainless steel scaler. The curette-style stainless steel scaler markedly damaged the cylindrical pure titanium surface. The arithmetic mean surface roughness (Ra) of the curetted surface was significantly (13-fold) higher than the Ra of the initial surface. Deep flaws were observed in the curetted surface.
