Effect of irrigation and stainless steel drills on dental implant bed heat generation.

The objective of this study is assessing the influence of the use of different drill types and external irrigation on heat generation in the bone. In-vitro study to compare two different sequences for implant-bed preparation by means of two stainless steels: precipitation-hardening stainless steel (AISI 420B) (K drills), and martensitic stainless steel (AISI 440) (S drills). Besides, the drilled sequences were realized without irrigation, and with external irrigation by means of normal saline solution at room temperature. The study was realized on bovine ribs using: K without irrigation (KSI) and with irrigation (KCI) and S without irrigation (SSI) and with irrigation (SCI) with five drills for each system. Each drill was used 100 times. Bone temperature was measured with a thermocouple immediately after drilled. Average bone temperature with irrigation was for K drills 17.58±3.32 °C and for S drills 16.66±1.30 °C. Average bone temperature without irrigation was for K drills 23.58±2.94 °C and for S drills 19.41±2.27 °C. Statistically significant differences were found between K without irrigation versus S with irrigation and K with irrigation (p<0.05, Bonferroni correction). Lower temperature variation coefficient throughout the 50 measurements was observed in irrigated groups (K=5.6%, S=5.1% vs. without irrigation groups K=9.4%, S=9.3%). The first K drill generated more heat than the remaining drills. No significant differences were detected among temperature values in any of the analyzed drill groups. Unlike irrigation, drill use and type were observed to have no significant impact on heat generation. The stainless steel AISI 420B presents better mechanical properties and corrosion resistance than AISI440.