title: Simulation of the mechanical interlocking capacity of a rough bone implant surface during healing.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  When an implant is inserted in the bone the healing process starts to osseointegrate the implant by creating new bone that interlocks with the implant. Biomechanical interlocking capacity is commonly evaluated in in vivo experiments. It would be beneficial to find a numerical method to evaluate the interlocking capacity of different surface structures with bone. In the present study, the theoretical interlocking capacity of three different surfaces after different healing times was evaluated by the means of explicit finite element analysis.
  
  
  METHODS
  The surface topographies of the three surfaces were measured with interferometry and were used to construct a 3D bone-implant model. The implant was subjected to a displacement until failure of the bone-to-implant interface and the maximum force represents the interlocking capacity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The simulated ratios (test/control) seem to agree with the in vivo ratios of Halldin et al. for longer healing times. However the absolute removal torque values are underestimated and do not reach the biomechanical performance found in the study by Halldin et al. which might be a result of unknown mechanical properties of the interface.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Finite element analysis is a promising method that might be used prior to an in vivo study to compare the load bearing capacity of the bone-to-implant interface of two surface topographies at longer healing times.
authors.affiliation: Department of Prosthodontics, Faculty of Odontology, Malmö University, 205 06, Malmö, Sweden. anders.halldin@mah.se.|DENTSPLY Implants, Box 14, 43121, Mölndal, Sweden. anders.halldin@mah.se.
authors.forename: Anders
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Halldin
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Mechanics, Chalmers University of Technology, 41296, Gothenburg, Sweden. mats.ander@chalmers.se.
authors.forename: Mats
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ander
authors.affiliation: Department of Prosthodontics, Faculty of Odontology, Malmö University, 205 06, Malmö, Sweden. cmg.jacobsson@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Magnus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jacobsson
authors.affiliation: DENTSPLY Implants, Box 14, 43121, Mölndal, Sweden. stig.hansson@dentsply.com.
authors.forename: Stig
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hansson
mesh_terms: D000069343:Bone-Implant Interface; D055119:Elastic Modulus; D020342:Finite Element Analysis; D055595:Mechanical Phenomena; D016348:Osseointegration; D013997:Time Factors; D016474:Weight-Bearing; D014945:Wound Healing