Stress Distribution in All-Ceramic Posterior 4-Unit Fixed Dental Prostheses Supported in Different Ways: Finite Element Analysis.
BACKGROUND
The purpose of this finite element analysis (FEA) was to complement results of previously published studies that investigated the influence of abutment resilience on the load-bearing capacity of zirconia posterior 4-unit fixed dental prostheses (FDPs) with static load tests.


METHODS
Duplicates of 3 different physical specimens were modeled for FEA. The first virtual specimen was supported by teeth with periodontal resilience, the second by the combination of tooth and implant, and the third by implants only. The center of the FDP was loaded, vertically to the occlusal plane. The highest maximum principal stresses (MPSs) were computed.


CONCLUSIONS
The highest MPS in each model occurred in the basal region of the middle framework connector. Comparison between the 3 models showed that the tensile stresses were lower when the support of the FDP was more rigid. Numerically determined highest MPSs in the FDPs correlated well with experimentally observed load-bearing capacities.


CONCLUSIONS
The FEA is well suited to confirm the in vitro study mentioned and complement the results with stress distributions in all-ceramic posterior 4-unit FDP.
*Research Associate, Department of Prosthetic Dentistry and Biomedical Materials Science, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany. †Professor, Head of Department of Prosthetic Dentistry and Biomaterials, Saarland University Faculty of Medicine, Homburg, Germany. ‡Head of Materials Research Lab, Department of Prosthetic Dentistry and Biomedical Materials Science, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany. §Research Associate, Department of Prosthetic Dentistry and Biomedical Materials Science, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany. ¶Professor, Head of Department of Prosthetic Dentistry and Biomedical Materials Science, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.
Annike
A
Rand
Philipp
P
Kohorst
Andreas
A
Greuling
Lothar
L
Borchers
Meike
M
Stiesch
D002516:Ceramics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D019094:Dental Prosthesis, Implant-Supported / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D019232:Dental Restoration Failure; D003799:Dental Stress Analysis; D020342:Finite Element Analysis; D006801:Humans; D016474:Weight-Bearing