Assessment of Radiation Attenuation Properties in Dental Implants Using Monte Carlo Method

This study investigated the radiation attenuation characteristics of commonly used dental implant materials across an energy spectrum relevant to dental radiology. Two titanium implants were examined, with densities of 4.428 g/cm³ and 4.51 g/cm³, respectively. The first consisted of 90.39% titanium, 5.40% aluminum, and 4.21% vanadium, while the second comprised 58% titanium, 33% oxygen, 7% iron, 1% carbon, and 1% nitrogen. The third material was a zirconia implant (5Y form) composed of 94.75% zirconium dioxide, 5.00% yttrium oxide, and 0.25% aluminum oxide, exhibiting a higher density of 6.05 g/cm³. Monte Carlo simulations (MCNP6) and XCOM data were utilized to estimate photon source parameters, geometric configuration, and interactions with biological materials to calculate the half-value layer, mean free path, and tenth-value layer at varying photon energies. The results indicated that titanium alloys are well suited for low-energy imaging modalities such as CBCT and panoramic radiography due to their reduced artifact production. While zirconia implants demonstrated superior attenuation at higher energies (e.g., CT), their higher density may induce beam-hardening artifacts in low-energy systems. Future research should validate these simulation results through in vitro and clinical imaging and further explore the correlation between material-specific attenuation and CBCT image artifacts.