Biomechanical Evaluation of a Wide-Diameter Short Dental Implant for Use in Compromised Bone Quality Regions by Finite Element Method

The success rates of dental implant treatments in posterior mandible and maxilla could be compromised due to the increased masticatory forces and poor bone quality. In addition, the length of the implant is limited by maxillary sinus and mandibular canal in these regions. Wide-diameter short (WDS) implants provide a good alternative to increase the stability and the reliability of the implants in such conditions. The objective of this study is to evaluate the biomechanical properties of a wide implant by performing finite element analyses (FEA). Comparison of the strain distribution induced in the bone by a WDS implant and by a narrow-diameter long (NDL) implant, in clinical scenarios exhibiting different amounts of crestal bone, and under varying insertion depths demonstrated that WDS implant can be used safely and should perform as well as its NDL counterpart.