Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 7
Fretting Failure of Dental Implant-Bone
Interface
Missing teeth is a common problem worldwide, the incidence of which is on the rise
year after year. For example, in China, there are more than 800 million missing teeth
in people who are over 65 years old [
1
]. Not only does the loss of teeth affect one's
aesthetic appearance, but it may also lead to other complications, such as dysphonia
and temporomandibular joint disorder.
A dental implant is an artifi cial tooth root that is used in dentistry to support
restorations and then replace missing teeth. The global dental implant and prosthet-
ics market was valued at $6,781.7 million in 2011 and is expected to reach $10,562.2
million by 2016. Europe is leading the global dental implant market, with the largest
share of 41.0 %, at an estimated $1,675.1 million in 2011 [
2
].
7.1
Dental Implant System
The written records on dental implants date back to A.D. 1000. In the 1960s and
1970s, progress and breakthroughs in dental implant were based on the concept of
osseointegration fi rst described by the two research groups of Brånemark and
Schroeder et al. [
3
-
6
]. They all described this biological phenomenon as
osseointe-
gration
, which refers to the direct contact histologically between living bone and the
surfaces of commercially pure titanium implants and is believed to provide the rigid
fi xation of a dental implant within the alveolar bone and promote the long-term suc-
cess of dental implants [
7
,
8
]. So in the past four decades, implant therapy with the
replacement of missing teeth by implant-supported prostheses has expanded to
become a widely accepted treatment modality for the rehabilitation of fully and
partially edentulous patients.
At present, the most common dental implant is a cylinder implant. According to
the shape of the implant, a cylinder dental implant system can be divided into two
kinds: straight cylinder and tapered implant (Fig.
7.1
). According to the screw
shape, different screw designs can be obtained, as shown in Fig.
7.2
.
