Advisor(s)

Sinan Muftu

Contributor(s)

Ali Muftu, Jeffery W. Ruberti, Kai-Tak Wan

Date of Award

12-2012

Date Accepted

12-2012

Degree Grantor

Northeastern University

Degree Level

Ph.D.

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department or Academic Unit

College of Engineering. Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering.

Keywords

bone healing, bone remodeling, dental implant, mastication, osseointegration

Disciplines

Biomechanical Engineering | Mechanical Engineering

Abstract

Bone remodeling and bone healing are both complex biological processes that involve well-coordinated cellular activities. Mechanical loading is believed to influence the cellular responses during the development, maintenance, adaptation, and repair of bone. The works contained within this dissertation are aimed to investigate that the role of mechanics plays in the (1) mandibular bone development, (2) bone remodeling around dental implant, and (3) bone healing around dental implant. Regulatory algorithms of bone remodeling and bone healing are implemented in the finite element models.

In the first part of this work, the mandibular bone is shown to be determined by bone adaptation to external loading due to the daily activities. The density distribution of mandible is predicted to form a tubular structure similar to the observations in the medical images. Such bone architecture is known to provide bone the optimum strength to resist bending and torsion during mastication while reducing the bone mass. In addition, lack of the mechanical stimulation is shown to cause bone loss following edentulism.

The second part of this work shows that bone remodeling takes place due to the biomechanical alteration caused by dental implantation. In comparison to the long implants, the short implants are better for conserving the biomechanical state induced by the natural tooth in the surrounding bone. In addition, the short implants are predicted to lead to lower interfacial bone loss at high loads in the long term, while the long implants cause a more consistent level of bone loss for different load levels.

The final part of this work investigates the effect of immediate loading on the peri-implant bone healing. Applying higher load on the dental implant is demonstrated to impede the development of bone tissue and result in incomplete osseointegration. The region underneath implant apex is always found to experience high fluid stimulus that induces the development of soft tissue. A continuous layer of soft tissue grows along the smooth surface of threadless implant as a result of high distortional stimulus. The thread design redistributes the interfacial load and prevents the development of continuous high distortional stimulus.

Document Type

Dissertation

Rights Holder

Hsuan‐Yu Chou


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