Fatigue strength of dental implant in simulated body environments and suggestion for enhancing fatigue life

초록

Fatigue tests were performed in various simulated body environments reflecting various factors (such as body fluids, artificial saliva) relevant within a living body. First, the fatigue limit under a simulated body environment (artificial saliva) was evaluated and the governing factors of implant fatigue strength were looked into by observing the fracture mode. The fatigue life of an implant decreased in the artificial saliva environment compared with that in the ringer environment. Furthermore, in the artificial saliva environment, the implant fracture mode was fatigue failure of fixture as opposed to the abutment screw mode in the ringer environment. In the fatigue test, corrosion products were observed on the implant in the simulated body environment. A larger amount of corrosion products were generated on the artificial saliva specimen than on the ringer specimen. It is thought that the stronger corrosion activity on the artificial saliva specimen as compared with that on the ringer specimen led to an overall decrease of fatigue life of the former specimen. In the case of the implant with a nitrided abutment screw eliminated hardened layer (TixN), a several times increase in fatigue life is achieved in comparison with tungsten carbide-coated implants. © 2013 The Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers.

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