Purpose: Clarification of the protocol for using short implants is required to enable widespread use of short implants as an available treatment option. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influences of implant length and diameter, bicortical anchorage, and sinus augmentation on peri-implant cortical bone stress by three-dimensional finite element analysis.
Materials and methods: For bone models with bone quantity A and C in the maxillary molar region, three-dimensional finite element analysis was performed using different lengths and diameters of implant computer-aided design models, and the degree of maximum principal stress distribution for each model was calculated.
Results: For bone quantity A models, the degree of stress distribution of the 4-mm-diameter, 6-mm-length implant was the greatest. For bone quantity C models, the degree of stress distribution of the 5-mm-diameter, 6-mm-length implant with bicortical anchorage was much smaller than that for the 4-mm-diameter, 13-mm-length implant with sinus augmentation.
Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that 6-mm-length implants should be selected in cases with bone quantity C where the bone width permits increasing implant diameter from 4 mm to 5 mm.