Rt. Fields et al., THE PULLOUT FORCE FOR MITEK MINI AND MICRO SUTURE ANCHOR SYSTEMS IN HUMAN MANDIBULAR CONDYLES, Journal of oral and maxillofacial surgery, 55(5), 1997, pp. 483-487
Purpose: This study examines the pullout forces and the modes of pullo
ut for the Mitek mini and micro suture anchor systems (Mitek Inc., Nor
wood, MA) when inserted into the posterior aspect of the condyle. Mate
rials and Methods: Twenty mandibular condyles were obtained from embal
med human cadavers. A mini anchor and a smaller micro anchor were thre
aded with braided size 0 and 3-0 polyester suture, respectively, and p
laced in the posterior aspect of each condyle, Pullout testing was per
formed using an Instron materials testing machine, The force and mode
of pullout were recorded for each specimen, Results: The findings indi
cate a significantly greater mean pullout force of 16.02 lbs for the l
arger mini anchor system as compared with the 10.57 lbs mean pullout f
orce of the micro anchor system. The modes of pullout between these im
plants were also different, Intact mini suture anchor systems pulled t
hrough the cortical bone in 90% of the trials, and suture breakage occ
urred in 10%, The micro anchors were irreversibly deformed on pullout
in 65% of the trials, whereas the suture broke in 25% of the trials, a
nd the intact suture anchor system pulled through the cortical bone in
10%, Conclusions: The Mitek mini anchor system has a significantly gr
eater pullout force from the mandibular condyle than the micro anchor
system.