Morphological analysis of laser welded joint structures of passivated implant bars

Objectives. Passivation of implant supported frameworks can be obtained by cutting and welding metal suprastructures. Cresco® is an automatised system to improve this procedure. Aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of cutting and welding techniques obtained with Cresco® system on implant-retained frameworks. Methods. Ten implant-retained bars were cut with this system and then a laser welded X-ray microanalysis was performed. Welded surface was sectioned to observe the welding depth and to evaluate microhardness. Results. SEM observations showed cutting accuracy and welding depth. Impurities were not recognized with X-ray microanalysis. Conclusions. Such system reduces handmade procedures allowing to obtain passive framework with predictable and repeatable results.