Accuracy Verification of Torque Limiting Devices - A Procedure Using Fundamental Physics.

Purpose: To demonstrate a physics-based technique for testing the accuracy of mechanical torque-limiting devices (MTLDs) and compare it to a digital torque measuring system.

Materials and methods: MTLDs from four manufacturers (Camlog, AstraTech, Straumann, NobelBiocare) were selected to assess their accuracy. A manual test setup was developed, each torque measurement was performed three times, and compared to digital torque measurements. Non-parametric statistical tests were used to analyze the results.

Results: Torque measurements from the manual and digital techniques did not differ significantly (P < 0.05).

Conclusion: The manual technique provided torque measurements similar to those of a commonly used digital system.