Effects of thread features in osseo-integrated titanium implants using a statistics-based finite element method

Objective. To investigate the influence of implant design factors in terms of bone integrity and implant stability. Materials and methods. A 3D parametric CAD model was developed. Then, once domain settings and boundary conditions were defined, a 3D FEM model was created. To simulate the physical interaction at the bone-implant interface, identity pairs were introduced. After generating different design scenarios with a DOE approach, the most significant design factors were obtained. Results. This study showed that the geometry of the screw thread highly influenced the implant stability. In particular the degree of bone damage became minimal when adopting 0.40 mm for the thread width and 0.05 mm for the thickness. Significance. Thread width and thickness play a crucial role to reduce induced stresses and damage in bone. Considering these preliminary results, future improvements should focus on investigating also two-factor and higher interactions to better understand the implant loading mechanism. (C) 2012 Academy of Dental Materials. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.