SHEAR STRESS ANALYSIS BY FINITE ELEMENTS OF A METAL-CERAMIC DENTAL BRIDGE ON A CoCr ALLOY SUPPORT

A dental bridge is a fixed prosthesis that replaces lost teeth. It can consist of three or more elements and uses the patient's natural teeth as support. Using the finite element analysis (FEA) approach, the current work seeks to evaluate, the performance of a ceramic dental bridge with a CoCr alloy insert, under the action of masticatory forces, in relation to the technique used to obtain the metal insert: sintered, CAM-milled, and cast. The results of this investigation show that the differences in mechanical strength of a dental bridge construction on a sintered, cast, or CAM-milled CoCr insert are insignificant in terms of these properties and cannot harm the prosthetic or the teeth that serve as the abutment. Also, this type of assembly can be considered an optimal economic solution for treating edentation and restoring the dental-maxillary system's functioning. However, as the connectors and holding components are the weakest parts, additional consideration must be given to their design, particularly in the connection area between the bridge pieces.