Cone Beam Computed Tomography Based Finite Element Analysis of Bone-Implant Constructs and Comparison with Experimental Measurements

Abstract

The biomechanical environment around implants plays a crucial role in the stability and success of dental implants. In our previous studies, laboratory-based micro X-ray computed tomography (micro-CT) was used to conduct in situ biomechanical experiments and finite element method (FEM) analyses of bone-implant biomechanics. Compared to micro-CT, cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) is more commonly used in dental clinics. This study uses CBCT to investigate peri-implant bone biomechanics. Voxel-based finite element models were constructed from CBCT images of five human cadaveric bone-tooth specimens. The 3D strain distribution in bone surrounding immediately loaded implants was computed and quantitatively compared with experimental results. Our findings revealed significant strain concentration at bone-implant contact (BIC) areas (greater than 0.8%), extending to both buccal and lingual bone plates. Notably, the thinner buccal plate exhibited greater strain concentration (greater than 0.8%) than the thicker lingual plate (approximately 0.6%). The comparison of FEM-computed averaged maximum principal strain values and experimental results showed good agreement for both buccal (slope 0.892, R-squared 0.9607) and lingual plates (slope 1.0965, R-squared 0.9633). However, CBCT-based FEM overestimated strain at BIC locations by a factor of 1.7. CBCT-based FEM is effective in predicting strain in both buccal and lingual plates. This strain concentration in the buccal plate may contribute to observed buccal bone resorption. Insights from this work could inform development of biomechanics-guided preclinical assessments and CBCT-based implant planning.