RESUMO
Insertion energy has been advocated as a novel measure for primary implant stability, but the effect of implant length, diameter, or surgical protocol remains unclear. Twenty implants from one specific bone level implant system were placed in layered polyurethane foam measuring maximum insertion torque, torque-time curves, and primary stability using resonance frequency analysis (RFA). Insertion energy was calculated as area under torque-time curve applying the trapezoidal formula. Statistical analysis was based on analysis of variance, Tukey honest differences tests and Pearson's product moment correlation tests (α = 0.05). Implant stability (p = 0.01) and insertion energy (p < 0.01) differed significantly among groups, while maximum insertion torque did not (p = 0.17). Short implants showed a significant decrease in implant stability (p = 0.01), while reducing implant diameter did not cause any significant effect. Applying the drilling protocol for dense bone resulted in significantly increased insertion energy (p = 0.02) but a significant decrease in implant stability (p = 0.04). Insertion energy was not found to be a more reliable parameter for evaluating primary implant stability when compared to maximum insertion torque and resonance frequency analysis.
RESUMO
The aim of this article is to illustrate and discuss current methods applied in the analysis of biomechanical components in dental applications. For illustration purposes, the strain development of a non-passively fitting implant supported fixed restoration was evaluated using the four techniques: photoelastic examination, strain gauge measurements, finite element analysis, and three-dimensional deformation analysis. Photoelastic analysis only allowed for a raw estimation of the strains evoked by superstructure fixation. Quantitative results could be derived from both strain gauge measurements and three-dimensional deformation analysis which could then be used to simulate the loading situation around the supporting implants.