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With stock abutments, soft tissue is left to heal around a
generic cylindrical shape, making it difficult to achieve the
ideal emergence profiles fostered by customization. Custom
abutments offer a patient-specific design that sculpts the
gingiva to form the ideal contours, helping to transition cases
toward the final restoration. Components designed and
fabricated with CAD/CAM technology accommodate the
gingival contours of patients with a degree of precision that
is simply not possible when stock abutments are modified
on a conventional soft tissue model.
My conversion to custom abutments is only a microcosm
of what is taking place throughout the industry. Ultimately,
the clinical advantages offered by custom abutments are
rendering the stock abutment obsolete. As more and
more doctors give patient-specific components a try and
experience the efficiency, precision and cost-effectiveness
of custom abutments, the industry’s conversion to digital
customization can only become more pronounced. Practices
run more smoothly and efficiently when abutments arrive at
the clinic ready to place without any adjustments. Though
stock abutments have played an essential role in the rise
of implant dentistry over the years, custom abutments will
inevitably become the restorative components of choice as
their clinical benefits become more widely known. IM
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Figures 11, 12: The final custom abutments (top) and all-ceramic, implant-retained
bridge (bottom) in this case illustrate how effectively custom healing abutments
establish ideal fits, margins and contacts.
– The Clinical Advantages of Custom Abutments – 33