Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the heat generated in bone by 2 implant drill systems in vitro with and without using surgical drill guides.
Materials and methods: Temperature was measured with K type thermocouple in vitro using the bovine femoral cortical bone model. A constant drill load of 2.0 kg was applied throughout the drilling procedures via a drilling rig at a speed of 1,500 rpm. Two different implant drill systems-System A (with external irrigation) and System B (with both external and internal irrigation)-were evaluated. The samples were divided into 4 groups. System A test group 1 (TG1) included the following: 20 samples for drilling with surgical drill guides; control group 1 (CG1): 20 samples for classical implant site preparation. System B test group 2 (TG2) included the following: 20 samples for drilling with surgical drill guides; control group 2 (CG2): 20 samples for classical implant site preparation. Heat was measured at the final drill in the drilling sequence (4.2 and 4.4 mm). Thermocouples were placed at a 1-mm distance from the osteotomy area at depths of 3, 6, and 9 mm. Heat measurements were recorded out to 50 uses by a software program. Data were subjected to the Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests. The alpha level was set a priori at 0.05.
Results: The mean maximum temperatures at the depths of 3, 6, and 9 mm using surgical drill guides were 34.2 degrees , 39.7 degrees , and 39.8 degrees C, respectively, although without using surgical drill guides the values were 28.8 degrees , 30.7 degrees , and 31.1 degrees C. A statistically significant difference was found at the depths of 3, 6, and 9 mm between using surgical drill guides and classical drilling procedure.
Conclusions: From a heat generation standpoint, we conclude that preparing an implant site with using surgical drill guides generates heat more than classical implant site preparation regardless of the irrigation type.