13 - Finite element analysis of stresses in dental crowns

Abstract

In dentistry, Finite Element Analysis (FEA) was shown to provide reliable information concerning stress distribution in a tooth as far back as the 1970s. The FEA method consists of dividing the geometry of a structure into a finite number of elements, elements with mechanical properties that are relatively easy to describe. The geometry of these small elements can be bars, wedges, tetrahedrons or other shapes. The approximation is made that the properties are uniform for a specific element. In order to show the potential of using FEA for modelling of the stresses in indirect restorations, this chapter presents an example of an FEA study of all ceramic dental crowns using the Computer Aided Design (CAD) model with the objective of establishing design parameters for dentists. In the FEA method, the geometry of a structure is divided into a finite number of elements, with relative ease, to describe mechanical properties; thus creating the possibility of calculating the stresses in a structure mathematically. FEA of dental crowns has shown that the critical area of the crown is not the occlusal surface, just as the analysis of clinically failed crowns has shown that failures do not initiate from flaws on the occlusal surface.