Mechanical testing strategies for dental implants

Abstract

Dental implants, which are utilized for substituting missing teeth are appealed in clinical applications for decades. Moreover, they also are used for supporting craniofacial reconstructions and for orthodontic appliances. Besides having esthetically similar view to natural tooth, dental prostheses have no harmful effect to neighboring teeth and non-disturbing nature for the patient during mastication. On the other hand, the dental implant can result in bone resorption, biocompatibility problems and high costs. There are four main types of dental implant designs, which are developed and employed in clinical dentistry entitled as subperiosteal form, blade form, ramus frame, and endosseous form. From the beginning of this technic, a great evolution not only on implant design and surgical technologies of dental implants, but also on the classification of clinical success, failure and different surface treatments of dental implants is done. The failures are generally influenced on the mechanical properties of dental implants. Therefore, it is critical to estimate possible failures in a specific design of dental implant, which could protect the patients’ health and comfort. For this purpose, the experimental methods for the dental implants provide precise data for clinicians and engineers. Maximum allowable stress and strain, resonance frequency and resistance to fracture are key parameters to determine long term durability of dental implants. In this study, current status of frequently utilized mechanical tests to measure these properties, such as tensile, resonance and fracture tests are summarized. Test procedures with related standards, their strength and weaknesses are briefly discussed. This review is prepared to inform the tester about mechanical testing methods of dental implants in the light of recent advancements.