A natural tooth's stress distribution in occlusion with a dental implant

The loss of one or more teeth is normally treated with conventional fixed o r removable partial dentures or with implant supported fixed or removable d entures. This study investigated stresses formed around the implant and the antagonist natural tooth under occlusal force in the substitution of a mis sing lower first molar with a rigid or resilient IMZ (Intra Mobil Zylinder) implant, using the finite element stress analysis method. The results indi cate that a bite force of 143 N resulted in high compressive stresses aroun d the roots of a natural tooth opposing a restoration supported by an IMZ i mplant with rigid type abutment. It is speculated that these high compressi ve stresses may contribute to intrusion of the tooth.