Effect of material and dimensions on the mechanical behavior of a dental implant

Metallic dental implants such as titanium and stainless steel have an elastic modulus 5-14 times greater than that of compact bone (15 GPa). These stiff implants do not adequately strain the bone, which can result in bone resorption through a phenomenon referred to as stress shielding. The implant length and diameter has a significant influence on the stress distribution within the surrounding jawbone. Therefore, the objective of this investigation is to optimize the material and the dimensions of a dental implant. A numerical solution of a 3D finite element analysis using ANSYS software was conducted to achieve this purpose. It was concluded that by using stainless steel, titanium or gold dental implants with a large diameter and short length the values of the maximum von Mises stress values in cortical bone were increased. The maximum increase in von Mises stress can be obtained by using a stainless steel implant. This dental implant will reduce the stress shielding effect as well as yield suitable values with respect to von Mises stress for both porcelain crowns and dental implants, thus increasing the service life of the implant.