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Updated: May 11, 2026
An Improved Mechanical Testing Method to Assess Bone-implant Anchorage
Published on: February 10, 2014
Influence of simulated bone-implant contact and implant diameter on secondary stability: a resonance frequency in
Mario Veltri1, Oscar González-Martín, Urs C Belser
1Specialist Clinic for Periodontology, Göteborg, Sweden.
Objectives:
This study tested the hypothesis of no differences in resonance frequency for standardized amounts of simulated bone-implant contact around implants with different diameters. In addition, it was evaluated if resonance frequency is able to detect a difference between stable and rotation mobile ("spinning") implants.
Material And Methods:
Implants with diameters of 3.3, 4.1 and 4.8 mm were placed in a purposely designed metal mould where liquid polyurethane resin was then poured to obtain a simulated bone-implant specimen. By regulating the mould, it was possible to create the following simulated bone-implant contact groups: 3.3 mm (198.6 mm(2)); 4.1 mm (198.8 mm(2)); 4.8 mm (200.2 mm(2)); 4.8 mm (231.7 mm(2)); 4.8 mm (294.7 mm(2)). Each group included 10 specimens. After resin setting, resonance frequency was measured. On the last group, measurements were repeated after establishing implant rotational mobility. One-way ANOVA tests with post hoc comparisons, a Pearson's correlation coefficient and a t-test for repeated measurements were used to evaluate statistically significant differences.
Results:
Implants with different diameters but with the same amount of simulated osseointegration revealed no differences in resonance frequency. On the contrary, an increase of simulated bone-implant contact resulted in significantly higher resonance frequency. A clear direct linear correlation resulted between resonance frequency and simulated bone-implant contact. Furthermore, a significant difference resulted between resonance frequency measured before and after creation of rotational mobility.
Conclusions:
Within the conditions of this study, the secondary stability was correlated with the simulated bone-implant contact. In addition, resonance frequency was able to discern between stable and rotation mobile implants.
