Effects of inter-implant distance and implant length on the response to frontal traumatic force of two anterior implants in an atrophic mandible: three-dimensional finite element analysis

The aim of this three-dimensional finite element analysis study was to examine the biomechanical behaviour of dental implants and the surrounding bone under traumatic frontal force. Models were created of an edentulous atrophic mandible using cone beam computed tomography data from a patient; two titanium alloy implants (Ti-6Al-4V) were virtually inserted into the anterior of the mandible. Six different variations were modelled to represent differences in implant location (lateral incisor vs. canine placement) and implant length (monocortical, bicortical, and long-bicortical). A static force of 10 MPa was applied frontally to the symphysis region of each model, and the maximum equivalent von Mises strain of bone, maximum von Mises stress of implants, and chromatic force distributions in bone and implants were recorded. In general, when compared to lateral incisor placement, canine placement of implants resulted in greater von Mises stress on implants and greater equivalent von Mises strain on bone. The findings of the present study showed the distribution of traumatic force to be affected more by inter-implant distance than by implant length. The insertion of implants in the lateral incisor area was found to be a better solution than canine area placement in terms of frontal plane trauma and fracture risk.