Stress distributions in maxillary bone surrounding overdenture implants with different overdenture attachments

In this study, effects of different overdenture attachments on the stress distributions in the maxillary bone surrounding the overdenture implants are studied. Four different types of attachment are considered. They are rigid Dalbo Stud, movable Dalbo Stress Broken, movable Dalro, and movable O-ring attachments. Three-dimensional finite element analysis was conducted with commercial package to obtain the stress distributions in the maxillary bone. Varying the attachment types and angle of inclination of load, the stress distributions in the portions of compact bone and trabecular bone were monitored separately. The analysis was conducted by assuming two different boundary conditions at the interface between cap and overdenture abutment in order to evaluate influence of interface boundary condition on stress distribution in the maxillary bone. They were perfect bonding condition and contact with friction at the interfaces. However, it is preferable to assume perfect bond condition at the interface for rigid type attachment systems and contact with friction at the interface for movable type attachment systems. From the numerical results, it was found that the load transfer mechanism of the implant system is altered significantly by the types of the overdenture attachment and also special care must be taken to assign proper boundary conditions at the interface for the analysis. The movable type Dalro attachment generated the highest maximum effective stress in the maxillary bone among the models under the same inclined loading condition for contact with friction. The rigid type Dalbo Stud attachment generated the smallest maximum effective stress in the maxillary bone among the models under the same inclined loading condition for perfect bonding condition.