Recovery of fractured abutment screws within a dental implant: an accessible technique

Abstract

Dental implants are commonly used to replace missing teeth, however concerns associated with implant and prosthetic components are well-established. Fractures of the screws supporting the implant abutment can generate complicated clinical situations. The aim of this article is to present an accessible and minimally invasive protocol to recover fractured implant abutment screws. This study presents a non-invasive, easy-to-perform technique that uses a hand-held instrument (ear cleaning cotton swab) without the risk of damage the threads and external characteristics of the implant. The cotton swab adheres micromechanically to the fractured fragment of the screw, facilitating gentle extraction by hand without causing damage to the implant threads.