implants international magazine of oral implantology

I industry report Immediate loading of the upper right lateral and central incisors Author_Prof Alessandro Pozzi, Italy 34 I implants2_2012 _Introduction In recent years, greater biomechanical demands have been placed on restorative solutions as the use ofimplantsforsingle-toothreplacementinposterior regions of the mouth has become more widespread and new restorative designs based on axial and tilted implants have been introduced. These restorations require a stronger connection in order to withstand higher torque, lateral loading stress and to minimize forces on the retaining screw and prosthetic compo- nents. _Internal connection components In order to improve the biomechanical character- istics of the complete restoration, the internal con- nection concept was introduced to the world of im- plant design; but in its first iterations, the internal connection compromised the strength of both the connection and the implant itself. Finite element analysis reveals that stresses re- sulting from functional loading are concentrated in the neck area of the implant. Up until now, internal connections have exacerbated this stress due to the weakness of implant walls and deficient load distri- bution to the bone, resulting from the designs them- selves.Thewallthicknessoftheimplantinthecritical stress zones has to be able to resist material fatigue andbreakageunderprolongedusewhileneithersac- rificing “osseointegratable” threads at the neck nor reducing the diameter of the connecting screw. _Case presentation Inthefollowingcommentary,Iwouldliketoshare a case of anterior restoration in a 50-year-old Fig. 1 Fig. 2