Abstract
PURPOSE: This study aimed to evaluate the safety of piezoelectric surgery for bone cutting during implant removal in terms of heat generation and histological changes. METHODS: The bone model experiments involved titanium implants or non-metal dummy implants placed in bone models. Bone cutting using a piezoelectric surgery with irrigation was performed at distances of 0, 1, and 2 mm from the implant, and the temperature was recorded using a contact thermometer placed at the tip of the implant. Using procine mandible models, histological analysis was performed using hematoxylin and eosin-stained images to evaluate the risk of thermal injury. RESULTS: When bone cutting was performed at distances of 0 mm from the implants continuously, a significantly greater temperature increase was observed with the titanium implants compared to the non-metal dummy implants. The increase in temperature decreased as the distance between the implant and the cutting position increased. Comparing the cutting patterns, a greater temperature increase was observed with continuous and 10 s intermittent cutting. In contrast, it was suppressed with intermittent cutting for 3 and 5 s. In the histological analysis with porcine mandibles, findings suggest that thermal injury was not observed in any of the samples. CONCLUSIONS: No bone damage was observed in the histological analysis. In contrast, piezoelectric peri-implant bone cutting caused a significant increase in temperature, especially for continuous bone cutting during implant adjustments. However, intermittent cutting for 3 and 5 s significantly suppressed the temperature increase. The results suggest that shortening the continuous cutting time may be effective in preventing heat generation when using piezoelectric surgery for peri-implant bone cutting.