Biomechanics of the press-fit phenomenon in dental implantology: an image-based finite element analysis

BACKGROUND: A fundamental pre-requisite for the clinical success in dental implant surgery is the fast and stable implant osseointegration. The press-fit phenomenon occurring at implant insertion induces biomechanical effects in the bone tissues, which ensure implant primary stability. In the field of dental surgery, the understanding of the key factors governing the osseointegration process still remains of utmost importance. A thorough analysis of the biomechanics of dental implantology requires a detailed knowledge of bone mechanical properties as well as an accurate definition of the jaw bone geometry. METHODS: In this work, a CT image-based approach, combined with the Finite Element Method (FEM), has been used to investigate the effect of the drill size on the biomechanics of the dental implant technique. A very accurate model of the human mandible bone segment has been created by processing high resolution micro-CT image data. The press-fit phenomenon has been simulated by FE analyses for different common drill diameters (D(A) = 2.8 mm, D(B) = 3.3 mm, and D(C) = 3.8 mm) with depth L = 12 mm. A virtual implant model has been assumed with a cylindrical geometry having height L = 11 mm and diameter D = 4 mm. RESULTS: The maximum stresses calculated for drill diameters D(A), D(B) and D(C) have been 12.31 GPa, 7.74 GPa and 4.52 GPa, respectively. High strain values have been measured in the cortical area for the models of diameters D(A) and D(B), while a uniform distribution has been observed for the model of diameter D(C) . The maximum logarithmic strains, calculated in nonlinear analyses, have been ϵ = 2.46, 0.51 and 0.49 for the three models, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: This study introduces a very powerful, accurate and non-destructive methodology for investigating the effect of the drill size on the biomechanics of the dental implant technique. Further studies could aim at understanding how different drill shapes can determine the optimal press-fit condition with an equally distributed preload on both the cortical and trabecular structure around the implant.