ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: The present study was aimed to evaluate the level of cortical bone strain during the placement of an implant. The primary concern was to investigate if the extent of overloading area near the marginal bone could be affected by microthread fabricated at the cervical 1/3 of an implant. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three dimensional finite element analysis was used to simulate the insertion of 3 implants. Control model was 4.1 x 10 mm implant (Submerged model, Dentis Co,, Daegu, Korea) equipped with a main thread only. Type I was with main thread and microthread, and Type II had similar thread pattern but was of tapered body. A PC-based finite element software (DEFORM 3D ver 5, SFTC, Columbus, OH, USA) was used to calculate a total of 3,600 steps of analysis, which simulated the whole insertion. RESULTS: Results showed that the strain field in the marginal bone within 1 mm of the implant wall was higher than 4,000 micro-strain in the control model. The size of bone overloading was 1-1.5 mm in Type I, and greater than 2 mm in Type II implants. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that the marginal bone may be at the risk of resorption on receiving the implant for all 3 implant models studied. Yet, the risk was greater for Type I and Type II implants, which had microthread at the cervical 1/3.