Alternative materials for three endosseous implants.

Three endosseous post-type implant geometries were evaluated: a serrated solid with a 2-degree taper and a rectangular cross section, a cylindrical screw-type solid, and a finned solid with a 1-degree 9' taper and a circular cross section. Each implant geometry was analyzed with 10 different moduli of elasticity. Stress contour plots were used to identify which implant material was best suited to each implant geometry. Careful examination of all of the contour plots showed that, for all geometries, increasing the material stiffness transmitted more of the occlusal load to the apical bone. These plots further suggested that an implant material can be too stiff as the punching stresses increase at the apex of the implant. Of the three endosseous implants analyzed, only the finned solid type seemed to be made of the proper material, titanium alloy. The screw-type implant, made of sapphire, should be made of aluminum or possibly titanium. The serrated implant, made of polycrystalline alumina, was too stiff. An implant's elastic behavior is not the only governing factor. An implant's geometry seems to be the determining factor in properly distributing stresses from the implant to the bone.