Investigation of the effects of various restorative materials on stress distribution in a zirconia abutment in the anterior region: A finite element analysis

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of using aesthetic restorations and abutments in cases where implants will be applied in the anterior region on the stress distribution on implant components and surrounding biological tissues. Methodology: The data was created in the SolidWorks program, with cortical bone approximately 2 mm thick and trabecular bone approximately 15 mm thick. An implant obtained from a dental implant company, with a length of 12 mm and a diameter of 3.7 mm, was placed into the created data. The obtained data was exported as the Standard Tessellation Language (STL) file and imported into the EXOCAD program. A custom abutment and a prosthetic restoration with central incisor morphology were designed within the data, and all data were exported in STL format and re-imported into SolidWorks. Cement data with a thickness of 30 μm was created, and then all parts were assembled appropriately. The assembled data was converted to Standard for the Exchange of Product Model Data (STP) format and transferred to the ABAQUS program. In ABAQUS, zirconia was assigned to the custom abutments, dual-cure resin cement to the cement, and three different all-ceramic materials, MZ, zirconia-reinforced lithium silicate (ZLS), and lithium disilicate glass ceramics (LS), to the restoration material. A load of 150 N was applied obliquely at a 30º angle to the palatoincisal corner, and the resulting values were recorded as von Mises stress (VMS) values. Results: In each of the three restorations, the highest von Mises stress value occurred around the abutment, while the lowest stress value was observed in the trabecular bone. The stress value around the restoration was highest in monolithic zirconia. The highest stress value around the abutment was observed in lithium disilicate. Conclusion: In cortical and trabecular bone, similar values were found across all three restorations. The highest stress concentration, excluding the area around the restoration, was observed in lithium disilicate. How to cite this article: Avcı FN, Mohammadi R, Keçeci M, Demirel MG. Investigation of the effects of various restorative materials on stress distribution in a zirconia abutment in the anterior region: A finite element analysis. Int Dent Res. 2024;14(S1):106-113. https://doi.org/10.5577/indentres.569