Screwmentable Implant Crowns: Cemented to a Ti-Base, Retrieved Like a Screw-Retained Crown

You want an implant crown you can unscrew later, without a cement line hidden in the sulcus where you cannot fully see or clean it. One design aims at both: the crown is cemented to a titanium base on the bench, and the finished unit is screwed into the implant.

That design is often called screwmentable. Below: how it compares, what the evidence shows, how to bond the crown to the titanium base, and when another design fits better. For the general screw-or-cement decision, see Screw-Retained vs. Cement-Retained Implant Crowns.

Quick Answer

A screwmentable implant crown is bonded or cemented to a titanium base or abutment outside the mouth, then screwed into the implant as one unit through an access channel. The cement joint is cleaned and polished on the bench, so no cement reaches the sulcus, and the crown stays retrievable. Short-term clinical results are strong; long-term trials are few. Choose another design when the channel cannot avoid contacts or the esthetic surface, or space is short.

What Is a Screwmentable Crown?

It is cemented like a cement-retained crown and held in the mouth like a screw-retained one; a 2004 technique article called it a retrievable cemented prosthesis (Rajan and Gunaseelan, 2004). In recent studies it is a zirconia or lithium disilicate crown bonded to a prefabricated titanium base (Ti-base). Labels vary: a retrospective study of 182 Ti-base zirconia crowns calls them screw-mentable (Guncu et al., 2022), while a meta-analysis counts the same design as screw-retained hybrid abutment crowns (Zhang et al., 2024).

Two versions

• Hybrid abutment crown: crown and abutment are one ceramic piece bonded to the Ti-base; the screw channel exits through the occlusal or lingual surface.
• Hybrid abutment with a separate crown: a ceramic abutment bonded to the Ti-base, with a crown cemented on top. Ivoclar recommends this version when the channel opening would fall in a contact or functional area.

In a 3-year split-mouth study of 10 patients, both versions in pressed lithium disilicate on Ti-bases had 100% survival and no complications (Naumann et al., 2025).

How Does It Compare With Cement-Retained and Screw-Retained Crowns?

What Does the Evidence Show?

Retrievability

A review of 59 clinical studies found screw-retained reconstructions easier to retrieve, so complications are easier to treat, and preferred them partly for that reason (Sailer et al., 2012). A review of 73 studies found similar survival but fewer complications overall with screw retention (Wittneben et al., 2014). The screwmentable review lists passive fit, retrievability, excess cement control and esthetics as advantages, but finds well-designed trials limited (Sarafidou et al., 2023).

Residual cement and peri-implant disease

A systematic review of 1,010 cemented implant restorations identified excess cement as a possible risk indicator for peri-implant disease and recommended crown margins at the mucosal level with early follow-up (Staubli et al., 2017). A screwmentable crown moves the cement joint out of the mouth. In a lab comparison, zirconia crowns with a screw access hole left less excess cement and a smaller marginal gap than crowns without one (Yildiz et al., 2024).

Survival and mechanical complications

A 2024 meta-analysis of six randomized trials (274 implants) found 0.088 mm more marginal bone loss with Ti-bases than with one-piece abutments, and no difference in probing depth, bleeding or prosthetic complications (Liu et al., 2024). Among 182 screwmentable zirconia crowns followed a mean 32 months, restoration survival was 98.9%; both technical complications were in bruxers, and no implant had peri-implantitis (Guncu et al., 2022).

The weak point is the bond: in a 20-patient pilot trial of lithium disilicate on Ti-bases, the only failure was loss of adhesion between Ti-base and abutment at 6 months (Naumann et al., 2023). Material matters too: in a 3-year randomized trial, lithium disilicate hybrid abutment crowns had only screw loosening (12.5%), while polymer-infiltrated hybrid ceramic crowns had fractures (25%) and decementation (17.9%) (Schnutenhaus et al., 2025).

Does the Access Hole Cost Strength or Esthetics?

Strength

Not measurably in one fatigue study: lithium disilicate crowns failed at 605 N with an occlusal access channel and 615 N without; monolithic zirconia at about 2,048 and 2,029 N (Hussien et al., 2016). Ivoclar's rule for IPS e.max Press hybrid abutment crowns still applies: keep the opening out of contact points and chewing areas.

Angled screw channels

Where a straight channel would exit facially, an angled channel can move it lingually. Nobel Biocare claims up to 25° of freedom, 35 Ncm of torque at any angle, and easier handling with its Omnigrip screwdriver. In a retrospective review of 84 angled-channel restorations, 81 (96%) had no recorded complications (Greer et al., 2017). In a lab test, zirconia crowns on Ti-bases with straight, 15° and 25° channels fractured at similar loads, and the zirconia to titanium base junction was the weakest link (Wei et al., 2025).

Zirconia or E.max on a Ti-Base?

Ivoclar's IPS e.max Press instructions (Rev. 2, 2026-01-08) cover implant-supported hybrid restorations for single teeth. For a hybrid abutment crown they require a wall thickness above 1.5 mm around the whole equator and a width of no more than 6.0 mm from the height of contour to the screw channel; a hybrid abutment needs walls of at least 0.5 mm. Crown height must be weighed against the bonding surface.

Both materials have clinical support: pressed lithium disilicate in the 3-year split-mouth study, zirconia in the 182-crown series. In one lab study, lithium disilicate on a taller Ti-base retained best and zirconia on a shorter one worst, and the authors favor etchable ceramics (Alseddiek et al., 2023). Polymer-infiltrated hybrid ceramics had more fractures and debonding in two randomized trials. More in Zirconia vs. E.max.

How Should the Crown Be Bonded to the Titanium Base?

Follow the current instructions of the cement and the Ti-base. Ivoclar's Multilink Hybrid Abutment protocol (Rev. 0, 2023-07-19):

• Ti-base: clean, prepare as its manufacturer specifies, never blast or modify the emergence profile (wax it and the channel if blasting is recommended), then Monobond Plus for 60 s.
• Lithium disilicate: do not blast. Etch with 5% hydrofluoric acid for 20 s, rinse, dry, then Monobond Plus for 60 s, or use Monobond Etch & Prime.
• Zirconia: blast per the zirconia manufacturer, clean, then Monobond Plus for 60 s.
• Cementing: thin layer on both surfaces, align the marks, press for 5 s, clear the channel, remove the circular excess only after about 3 minutes, cover the joint with glycerine gel, leave it untouched about 7 minutes, then polish the joint below 5,000 rpm.

Should the Ti-base be abraded?

It depends on the Ti-base. Two reviews of lab studies put height first: one calls it the prevailing factor and sees a benefit from abrasion on Ti-bases at least 3.5 mm tall without micro-retentive features (Ntovas et al., 2024); the other finds smooth Ti-bases benefit more than micro-grooved ones and urges caution with 3 mm bases in posterior teeth (Shadid, 2025). Contamination is the other risk: saliva contamination, even followed by cleaning, can degrade the bond to titanium in a lab study (Burkhardt et al., 2021), and the Monobond Plus instructions say to repeat the whole pretreatment after contamination.

What About Torque and Delivery?

Torque comes from the implant manufacturer, not the crown material, and angled channels need their system's driver; see Why Implant Screws Loosen. Ivoclar lists temporary cementation of a crown on a hybrid abutment as a limitation of use. If you cement a separate crown to its abutment outside the mouth after try-in, a polyvinylsiloxane bite registration index keeps it in the adjusted position (Ryser et al., 2025).

When Should You Not Choose a Screwmentable Crown?

• The channel would exit through a contact, cusp or facial surface beyond what an angled channel corrects: consider a hybrid abutment with a separate crown, as Ivoclar suggests, or a custom abutment with a cemented crown, margin at the mucosa.
• Space allows only a short Ti-base under a tall crown, especially posteriorly.
• The crown is far wider than the Ti-base: for IPS e.max Press, more than 6.0 mm from height of contour to channel.
• Untreated bruxism, a limitation of use for IPS e.max Press (see Restorations for Bruxers).
• Bridges: Ivoclar's IPS e.max Press and Multilink Hybrid Abutment instructions cover titanium-base hybrid restorations for single teeth only; for multi-unit work, see Implant Abutments Explained.

Implant Crowns at Elegant Dental Laboratory

• Implant restorations: screw-retained and cement-retained options, custom screw-retained abutments and full-arch cases; design libraries for all major implant systems.
• IPS e.max, pressed only with IPS e.max Press, including e.max crowns on titanium bases. Compatible scan bodies and titanium bases accepted.
• Warranty: up to 20 years on screw-retained implant abutments, up to 7 years on final restorations (policies and warranties).
• Made in house in Brooklyn by more than 35 technicians; digital scans reviewed before production; 5 business day standard turnaround on most restorative cases, rush available.
• Submit a digital case or send a case: free pickup by our own drivers in all five NYC boroughs and 13 northern New Jersey counties, UPS labels anywhere. Call 877-335-5221.

FAQ

Is a screwmentable crown the same as a screw-retained crown?

In the mouth, yes. The difference is a cement joint to a titanium base or abutment, made outside the mouth.

Can I bond the crown to the Ti-base in the mouth?

Not with IPS e.max Press and Multilink Hybrid Abutment: Ivoclar lists intraoral cementation as a limitation of use, and the cement is contraindicated for intraoral luting.

Should the Ti-base be sandblasted?

Follow its manufacturer. In lab studies, abrasion helped smooth Ti-bases and hurt micro-grooved ones. Never blast the emergence profile.

Does the screw access hole weaken the crown?

In one fatigue study it did not, for zirconia or lithium disilicate. Keep the opening out of contacts and functional areas.

How long do screwmentable crowns last?

Data run mostly 1 to 5 years: 100% survival at 5 years for 30 IPS e.max CAD crowns in one trial, 98.9% for 182 zirconia crowns over a mean 32 months. Longer trials are missing.

Reviewed by Gary Fingerman, founder and CEO of Elegant Dental Laboratory, Brooklyn, New York (founded 2007). Last reviewed: October 1, 2026. Study values are from published research or manufacturer instructions; always follow the current instructions for use of the components and cements you use.