Microstructural Finite-Element Analysis of Influence of Bone Density and Histomorphometric Parameters on Mechanical Behavior of Mandibular Cancellous Bone Structure

Abstract

Using porous bioceramics became recently an alternative approach to increase bone density which is a key factor for successful dental implant application. These novel biomaterials should substitute missing natural trabecular structures in terms of material strength as well as deformation characteristics. However, mechanical behavior of these materials used as bone fillers are still in question. This problem is made more difficult by the fact that bone structure itself exhibits a complex mechanical behavior which is still in question as well and, therefore, appropriate analytical criteria should to be established. The purpose of this paper is to determine typical mechanical behavior of trabecular structure of mandibular cancellous bone using computational simulations which can serve as a basis for establishing such criteria. For this purpose, four bone specimens of various bone density were μCT-scanned and high-level finite element models including detailed trabecular structure were created on their basis to analyze relevant mechanical quantities for various loadings in terms of bone density and various histomorphometric parameters.