RESUMO
Available bone is one of the important factors in implant treatments. Due to concerns about complications caused by less bone implant contact area, researchers have focused on biomechanical properties of implants and methods to promote them. We investigated stress distribution around bone of different implant diameters and vertical cantilever length. Computed tomography (CT) images obtained of human mandible were used in this study. An SPI implant (Alpha Bio Tech, Simplantology) of two different lengths (10.5 mm and 8.5 mm) and two different widths (3.5 mm and 4.5 mm) were placed into two different groups of bone samples (with and without osteoplasty). Vertical and lateral forces of 100N and 30N at 45° were applied simultaneously in two models. The stress was analyzed using the finite element method. Maximum stress areas were located around the implant neck. Lower stress values in the loaded implants were observed in the shorter group related to the increase in crown height space, when compared to the other group. A wider implant may be better to dissipate force, thus reducing stress on the bone surrounding the implant. Additionally, the use of shorter and wider implants might be a reasonable alternative in sites limited by the height of the residual ridge.