The Combination Effects of Age-Related Bone Mechanical Property, Cortical Bone Thickness and Incisal Relationship on Biomechanical Performance of Narrow Diameter Implant Placed in Atrophic Anterior Maxilla: Finite Element Analysis

Atrophic anterior maxilla edentulous space could pose a significant challenge to successful osseointegrated implant due to inadequate labio-palatal dimensions. The load transferring to surrounding bone is a key factor for the long-term success of implant treatment. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of bone quality change in age-related bone mechanical property (AMP), cortical bone thickness (CBT) and incisal relationship (ICR) on the biomechanical performance of narrow diameter implant placed in atrophic anterior maxilla via finite element method. Three-dimensional models of a narrow diameter implant and an anterior maxillary bone were constructed. Eighteen different clinical situations including two CBTs [thin (0.5 mm) and thick (1.0 mm)], three AMPs [young, middle and old ages] under three ICRs [a low overbite (LO), a mean overbite (MO), a high overbite (HO)] were studied under the loading of 50.1 N. From the results, it is crucial to consider the critical situations of narrow diameter implant placed in atrophic anterior maxilla where the combination of the thin CBT, old age-AMP and HO-ICR clinical situation which induce surrounding bone resorption and implant damage.