APPLICATION OF FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS TO EVALUATE PLATFORM SWITCHING

Abstract

Statement of problem. Platform switching in implant prosthesis has been used for esthetic and biological purpose. But there are few reports for this concept. Purpose. The purpose of this study is evaluation of platform switching in wide implant by three dimensional finite element analysis. Materials and Methods. The single implant and prosthesis was modeled in accordance with the geometric designs for Osstem implant system. Three-dimensional finite element models were developed for (1) a wide diameter 3i type titanium implant 5 mm in diameter, 13 mm in length with wide cemented abutment, titanium alloy abutment screw, and prosthesis (2) a wide diameter 3i type titanium implant 5 mm in diameter, 13 mm in length with regular cemented abutment, titanium alloy abutment screw and prosthesis(platform switching) was made for finite element analysis. The abutment screws were subjected to a tightening torque of 30 Ncm. The amount of preload was hypothesized to 650N, and round and flat type prostheses were loaded to 200 N. Four loading offset point (0, 2, 4, 6 mm from the center of the implants) were evaluated. Models were processed by the software programs HyperMesh and ANSA. The PAM-CRASH 2G simulation software was used for analysis of stress. The PAM-VIEW and HyperView were used for post processing. Results. The results from experiment were as follows; 1. von Mises stress value is increased in order of bone, abutment, implant and abutment screw. 2. von Mises stress of abutment screw is lower when platform switching. 3. von Mises stress of implant is lower when platform switching until loading offset 4 mm. 4. von Mises stress of abutment is similar between each other. 5. von Mises stress of bone is slightly higher when platform switching. Conclusion. The von Mises stress pattern of implant components is favor when platform switch ing but slightly higher in bone stress distribution than use of wide abutment. The research about stress distribution is essential for investigation of the cortical bone loss.