Effect of grid size on fatigue life calculations of a dental implant

The aim of this paper was to evaluate the effect of grid size on the fatigue life calculations of a dental implant by conducting a non-linear contact FEM analysis. A Nobel – Biocare (Replace – Select) implant was chosen and modelled in CATIA after retrieving accurate dimensions from SEM. The mandibular bone was modelled using MIMICS software. Static and dynamic simulation was then conducted on the final assembly using ANSYS which is a commercially available FEA software package. It was observed that variation in grid size leads to significant variation in the life of the dental implant. Hence for an accurate estimation of fatigue life of the dental implant the mean of the range of values must be considered