Alex Rugh, CDT introduces the BellaTek ® Flex & Express abutments from ZimVie (Zimmer Biomet) which are used as titanium bases for screw retained crowns.

These abutments can also be used to create an angled screw channel which requires an angled screwdriver.

The Flex and Express are stock titanium bases that are used for screwmentable crowns, and they allow for up to 20 degrees of angle correction which is great for situations where screw retained restorations traditionally wouldn't work.

The Bellatek Flex is a 12mm tall abutment which can be used as is or it can be cut down to various heights. There are three machined grooves on the side of the abutment that indicate where to cut the abutment to achieve a height of 9, 7, or 4.75mm. This is a really neat feature since it's common for titanium bases to only have one height option. With these abutments, we can have more support for crowns that are taller but still have the flexibility to shorten the abutment when needed.

Each of these heights has a corresponding option in our design software so our crown will have internal dimensions that match the abutment.

The Bellatek Express is a 4.75mm tall abutment which has the same dimensions as a Flex abutment that has been cut down to the 4.75mm groove.

Another cool feature of these abutments is that the wall diameter is bigger for the larger platform sizes. So, a smaller implant such as the 3.4 will have thinner abutment walls but a bigger implant like the 6.0 will have really thick walls which will provide better support for the larger crowns.

Both the Flex and Express abutments are also available with non-engaging interfaces so they can be used for making splinted restorations as well.

As with other angled systems, the Flex and Express do require special drivers to torque. If you are working with both the Certain and TSV systems, you will need a unique driver for each.

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