The resonant frequency analysis (RFA) is a routinely used technique to assess dental implant stability. However, its sensitivity to the condition of the bone-implant interface remains largely unexplored. This paper investigates the RFA by means of numerical (finite element) simulations of short conical implants inserted into realistic jawbone sections. Two cases are examined. The first consists of a systematic variation in the bone-implant contact (BIC) using a random generation of the contact points in the two bone components. The results of the analyses show that beyond a BIC of ca. 20%, the RFA does not vary significantly, indicating a lack of sensitivity to further osseointegration. The next topic concerns peri-implantitis, as simulated firstly by a deterministic progressive detachment of the bone-implant interface. The main result of this simulation is that the RFA-BIC relationship is radically different for the osseointegration and bone recess phases, indicating a sensitivity to the location of the BIC in the bone components (random vs. deterministic). Finally, the simulation of a realistic peri-implantitis cylindrical crater of various depths shows no difference with respect to the previously analyzed interfacial bone detachment, indicating that the exact geometry of the peri-implantitis crater is of little if no influence on the RFA results.
Keywords: Dental implant; Finite element model; Osseointegration; Peri-implantitis; Resonant frequency analysis.
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