Influence of Abutment Type on Stress Distribution around Single Implant with Cantilever Prosthesis by Means of Photoelastic Analysis: An In Vitro Study

IntroductIonOsseointegrated implants have proved to improve the quality of life of edentulous patients by helping them with the replacement of missing teeth. 1 Biomechanics is one of the primary factors for achieving long-term success of implant-supported prostheses. 2 Implants with marginal annual bone loss of <0.2 mm following the first year of functional loading have been accepted as successful.Many experimental studies implicate peri-implantitis and occlusal overload as the main factors leading to marginal bone loss. 3 Biological and mechanical factors work together to shape the environment around dental implants, both before and after marginal bone changes occur.These changes can happen at either a normal (physiological) level or a disease-related (pathological) level. 3,4 Load transfer around an implant with compromised marginal bone condition would be further complicated in the presence of inflammatory bacterial infiltration.Therefore, understanding the biomechanical consequences of impairment at the bone-implant interface, specifically at early stages, is very important. 5 Various studies have shown that crestal bone loss around implants can be prevented by applying the platform-switching concept. 6,7 Analysis of the stresses transferred to the bone via implants is desirable for