Fiber-reinforced composite is a new material that promises advantages for use in oral and craniofacial applications as well as in orthopedics. Discovering how it responds to stress and strain can help gauge its usefulness.
Fiber reinforced composites are replacing metals in aerospace and sporting goods do to weight, strength, and corrosion properties. In bio-medical applications, fiber reinforced composites have unique properties, such as being transparent to x-rays, and these are leading to an increased use.
A new study compares fiber-reinforced composite and titanium implants. Researchers analyzed how the two materials affect stress and strain on the implant and the bone tissue surrounding it. They also compared interfacial stresses between the materials under three directions of load.
Distribution of stress and strain to the jawbone is significantly changed after reconstruction with oral implants. How an implant using fiber-reinforced composite reacts has not yet been well tested. This biomechanical connection between implant and bone can be different for each patient and is hard to measure.
