THE ANALYSIS AND DESIGN OF THE DYNAMIC IMPLANTATION PROCESS OF ZIRCONIA DENTAL IMPLANTS

In the field of dental implantology, the most commonly used implant materials are pure titanium or titanium alloy, however, implants composed of titanium have aesthetic defects and potential allergic problems. Zirconia ceramic implants are considered to be an ideal alternative to titanium implants due to their high strength, aesthetics and biocompatibility, but the research on zirconia implants in China is still in its start-up phase comparing with titanium-based implants. In this paper, the stress-strain conditions inside the bone tissue in which the zirconia implants were placed were analyzed by finite element modeling of zirconia ceramic implants as well as the bone tissue and simulation of the dynamic implant placement process. The finite element simulation results shows that the contact area between the implant and the bone tissue increased with the increase of the implantation depth, and the stress within the cancellous bone increased. Considering the specific structure of the bone tissue, the maximum stress and strain within the cancellous bone was taken as the main object of the analysis, then the implant model was optimized in combination with the damage analysis method. In addition, three implant models with self-tapping edge design were designed, and the optimal design was determined by stress-strain analysis. The implant models with self-tapping edge design were then simulated and analyzed for three clinical implant scenarios: thread forming, thread cutting, and thread forming and cutting. The analysis of three implant models with self-tapping edge design led to the conclusion that the thread forming and cutting implant solutions are safer in the process of clinical implant. The results of this paper can shed light on the structural design of zirconia implants and the setting of implantation conditions, and provide theoretical guidance for the independent development of zirconia implants in China and indicate the direction for their early clinical application.