Biomechanical effect of abutment on stability of orthodontic mini-implant. A finite element analysis

The biomechanical influences of primary factors on titanium mini-implant, which is used as an anchorage for orthodontic tooth movement, were quantified using the three-dimensional finite element method. Six types of finite element models were designed to show various thread pitches from 0.5 to 1.5 mm. Three models were designed with abutment and three other models without abutment. A traction force of 2 N was applied to the head of the mini-implant or abutment to be at 45 degrees to the bone surface. No remarkable differences were observed in the stress distribution patterns regardless of thread pitch variance. However, the stress distribution was remarkably different between models with abutment and without abutment. The maximum stress of the model with abutment and thread pitch 0.5 mm was the least as compared with the other models. Areas of high-level stress were obviously smaller than in the models without abutment. The plots of the displacement distributions of the models with abutment also presented significant pattern differences as compared with the models without abutment. The high-level area was localized to the head of the implant and the abutment in models with abutment. Therefore, the existence of the abutment is significantly useful in decreasing the stress concentration on the bone, while the effect of thread pitch was uncertain.