The UCLA abutment: a four-year review.

The UCLA abutment has been used over the past 4 years in the restoration of osseointegrated implants. The design of the abutment allows fabrication of the restoration directly to the implant fixture, bypassing the transmucosal abutment cylinder. This technique is valuable in overcoming problems of limited interocclusal distance, interproximal distance, implant angulation, and soft tissue response. Another major advantage with the UCLA abutment is that of improved esthetics. After treatment of 46 patients with 118 UCLA abutments, the 4-year success rates are 95.8%.