Reasons for the fatigue of ball attachments and their O-rings: A systematic review

Abstract

The ball attachments and their O-rings used for the retention and stabilization of overdentures showed a decrease in retention as the number of cycles increased. This fact resulted in a decrease in the retention of the prosthesis. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the fatigue resistance of ball attachments through a systematic review. An electronic search was performed using the Cochrane Library, LILACS, PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Web of Science databases. The search was conducted based on the PICOS framework. The inclusion criteria involved in the search comprised research articles written in English and published between the years 2000 and 2020. In the final selection, 18 articles were included in the review. Most of these studies performed the fatigue retention tests using parallel implants without angles. However, some studies used different angles to analyze the fatigue retention values. With the passage of time, the wear results in deformation and, as a consequence, a decrease in the retention of most attachments, leading to treatment failure. The main factor to be considered is the loss of retention of these components and their low durability. The loss of retention is due to large extent to the materials used to manufacture the attachments and O-rings, the size and angulation of the implants, and the length of the prosthesis. Future research is needed to further elucidate the reasons for the failure of the attachments.