Comparison of the torque stability of Implant Torque Controllers

Tightening of the screws in implant restorations should be accurate and precise. If applied torque is too low, screw loosening would be occurred. With too high torque, the screw fracture might take place. Various torque generating devices are developed and employed to apply a proper torque. The purpose of this investigation was to determine and compare the accuracy of the torque controllers. In this study, 4 types of torque controllers were used; electronic torque controller, torque limiting device, torque indicating device and contra angle torque driver. Digital torque gauge was employed to measure the de-torque value. Thirty cycles of tightening and loosening were done with each torque controller. All implant torque controllers have shown slight errors and deviations. The torque liming device exhibited the most accurate data. No significant difference was found among the mean de-torque values of the electronic torque controller, torque indicating device and contra angle torque driver. In the limitation of this study, it would be recommended that the implant torque controllers should be checked whether uniformed and precise torque can be generated and a measuring error should be corrected.