Biomechanical analysis of implant treatment for fully edentulous maxillas

Three-dimensional maxillary bone models of a male and a female patient were constructed using their CT-images. The distributions of Young's modulus were estimated from their bone mineral density distributions. Total six implants were embedded into each of the maxillary models. Finite element analysis of the maxilla models was then performed in order to assess the concentrations of strain energy density especially in the vicinities of the embedded implants. It was found that in both models, strain energy density was concentrated especially around the right-molar implant, suggesting outbreak of damage and subsequent absorption of bone tissue in this region. The female model with smaller size and lower bone density exhibited much higher localized concentration of strain energy density than the male model. Therefore, a modified placement of the right-molar implant was then introduced into the female model and such high concentration was effectively reduced by using the inclined and longer implant. It is thus concluded that this kind of three-dimensional modeling can clinically be used to predict the optimal implant treatment for each of dental patients.