Dynamic characterization of dental implant osseointegration

This paper presents how the response frequencies of dental implant structure depend on material properties of both interfacial tissue and dental structure during the osseointegration. Firstly, artificial bone block models were used to mimic various dental implant structures (with different vertical heights of alveolar bone and cortical thickness) in clinic. The structural resonance frequencies (RFs) were also measured by a noncontact displacement sensor. The obtained results were compared with corresponding finite element analysis (FEA). Secondly, the designated bone tissues around the implant were investigated through numerical simulation and corresponding measured RFs. A human mandible model was constructed based upon a set of in-vivo dental computerized tomography (CT) images. Both the simulation and experimental results show that with larger vise fixation heights the RFs of dental structure with three cortical thickness (1, 2 and 3mm) range from 6771±4.5 to 7078±17.3 Hz in the mesial-distal (MD) direction, and from 5230±6.3 to 6119±18.0 Hz in the buccal-lingual (BL) direction. Therefore, the same approaches can be used to evaluate healing conditions during the osseointegration stages for the other orientations. Additionally, Using the FEA enables to assess the stiffness of interfacial tissues that influence the RFs of implant structure during the primary stability stage; more precisely the RFs increase gradually to a steady level following bone tissues becoming stiffer. The FEA results indicate that using the RF changes can identify the conditions of osseointegration.