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Abutment

 
Abutment

 
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Abutment
 
 
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An abutment is an end support of a bridge
Bridge

A bridge is a structure built to span a gorge, valley, road, Rail tracks, river, body of water, or any other physical obstacle, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle....
 superstructure
Superstructure

A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied both to physical structures like buildings, bridges or ships and to conceptual structures as well ....
.

Abutments are used for the following purposes:

An abutment is also, generally, the point where two structures or objects meet.

Specifically, an abutment may be:



Abutment is also a term used by civil engineer
Civil engineer

A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering, one of the many engineering professions. Originally a civil engineer worked on public works projects and was contrasted with the military engineer, who worked on armaments and defenses....
s in dam
Dam

A dam is a barrier that Reservoirs surface water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates, levees, and Dike are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions....
 construction
Construction

In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of multitasking....
; moving water from a large reservoir to a channel such as a spillway
Spillway

A spillway is a structure used to provide for the controlled release of flows from a dam or levee into a downstream area, typically being the river that was dammed....
, there are smooth transition walls at both sides named abutments which minimize the water's energy loss. Prosthetic and Implant Dentistry

Abutment is also the term for a connecting element used to attach prosthetics to a dental implant that is Osseointegrated
Osseointegration

Osseointegration is the direct structural and functional connection between living bone and the surface of a load-bearing Implant , typically made of titanium....
.






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An abutment is an end support of a bridge
Bridge

A bridge is a structure built to span a gorge, valley, road, Rail tracks, river, body of water, or any other physical obstacle, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle....
 superstructure
Superstructure

A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied both to physical structures like buildings, bridges or ships and to conceptual structures as well ....
.

Abutments are used for the following purposes:
  • to transmit the reaction of superstructure to the foundations
    Foundation (architecture)

    A foundation is a structure that transfers loads to the earth. Foundations are generally broken into two categories: shallow foundations and deep foundations....
    .
  • to retain the earth filling.
  • to connect the superstructure to the approach road
    Road

    A road is an identifiable Road number, way or Trail between Location . Roads are typically smoothed, Pavement , or otherwise prepared to allow easy travel; though they need not be, and historically many roads were simply recognizable routes without any formal construction or Maintenance, repair and operations....
    s.


An abutment is also, generally, the point where two structures or objects meet.

Specifically, an abutment may be:

  • the part of a structure that supports an arch
    Arch

    An arch is a structure that Span a space while supporting weight . Arches appeared as early as the 2nd millennium BC in Mesopotamian brick architecture, but their systematic use started with the Ancient Rome who were the first to apply the technique to a wide range of structures....
    .
  • the tooth or teeth that support a fixed or removable bridge
    Bridge (dentistry)

    A bridge, also known as a fixed partial denture, is a dental restoration used to replace a missing teeth by joining permanently to adjacent teeth or dental implants....
    .
  • the part of an implant that acts as an connection between the implant
    Dental implant

    A dental implant is an artificial tooth root replacement and is used in Prosthodontics dentistry to support restorations that resemble a tooth or group of teeth....
     and the crown
    Crown (dentistry)

    File:Dental crown 29 PFM on Die.JPGFile:Dental crown 29 die.JPGCrown refers to the Dental restorations using materials that are fabricated by indirect methods which are cemented into place....
    .


Abutment is also a term used by civil engineer
Civil engineer

A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering, one of the many engineering professions. Originally a civil engineer worked on public works projects and was contrasted with the military engineer, who worked on armaments and defenses....
s in dam
Dam

A dam is a barrier that Reservoirs surface water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates, levees, and Dike are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions....
 construction
Construction

In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of multitasking....
; moving water from a large reservoir to a channel such as a spillway
Spillway

A spillway is a structure used to provide for the controlled release of flows from a dam or levee into a downstream area, typically being the river that was dammed....
, there are smooth transition walls at both sides named abutments which minimize the water's energy loss. Prosthetic and Implant Dentistry

Abutment is also the term for a connecting element used to attach prosthetics to a dental implant that is Osseointegrated
Osseointegration

Osseointegration is the direct structural and functional connection between living bone and the surface of a load-bearing Implant , typically made of titanium....
. These are usually called prosthetic implant abutments. These abutments can be made from a variety of materials, such as titanium, surgical stainless steel and gold. More modern abutments care now also made from zirconia, which is a white ceramic, to better complement the esthetics of a dental implant restoration. The two images to the right show a ceramic abutment and the ceramic crown bonded to it.

Prosthetic abutments are connected to the dental implants via a screw. This screw needs to be tightened to a predetermined torque, in order to avoid screw loosening during the masticatory cycle. Occlusal masitcatory forces can often create a counter-clockwise torque on the implant-abutment interface, encouraging the abutment screw to come loose. This can largely be prevented with proper screw design and torquing of the abutment.

The images to the right show how a cermic abutment can enhance a ceramic crown by giving it a more life-like appearance. Ceramic abutments have to be used with care, however, since their compressive strength is nowhere near that of titanium, gold or other noble metals. Most clinicians feel more comfortable using a metal prosthetic abutment in the posterior molar areas, due to the increased masticatory forces present in these areas.