Fibre reinforced composite dental bridge. Part II: Numerical investigation.

Motivated by the clinical success and limitations on experimental investigation of the fibre-reinforced composite dental bridge, this paper aims at providing a numerical investigation into the bridge structure. The finite element (FE) model adopted here is constructed from computer tomography images of a physical bridge specimen. The stress and strain distributions in the bridge structure especially in the bonding interfaces are analyzed in detail. The peak stresses and their variations with the different bridge designs are evaluated. Due to the lower bond strengths of adhesives and the high stress concentration in the pontic-abutment interface, the likelihood of failure in the interface is predicted by finite element analysis. The validity of the numerical results is established by a good agreement between the FE prediction and the tests in the load-deflection responses, the structural stiffness as well as the failure location of the composite dental bridge.