Finite element analysis of the bone remodelling process considering bone condensing around osseointegrated dental implants

Osseointegrated dental implants frequently show marginal bone resorption after the first few months of function. Reaching the implant stability the bone resorption will be stable at a level of two to four millimetres. To understand the bone remodelling process with and without bone condensing the stresses in the cortical and cancellous bone are calculated by finite element analysis. The bone remodelling process, driven by mechanical stimuli, is simulated using the soft kill method until implant stability is reached. The result of the calculated bone remodelling is given by the distribution of Young's modulus of the bone around the implant. The result of the simulation is that the marginal crestal bone loss without bone condensing is significantly higher and the implant bone interface more regular compared to the implant without bone condensing.