The feasibility of a custom-made endoprosthesis in mandibular reconstruction: implant design and finite element analysis

This work studies the feasibility of custom-made endoprosthesis in the reconstruction of major mandibular defects. The natural anatomical and occlusal relations are used to accurately reconstruct a mandibular defect. The customized implant allows the accurate restoration of the facial profile and aesthetics. The biomechanical behaviour of mandibular endoprosthesis was validated with Finite Element Analysis for three masticatory tasks, namely incisal, right molar and left group clenching. The implanted mandible shows displacement fields and stress distributions very similar to the intact mandible. The strain fields observed along the bone-implant interface may promote bone maintenance and ingrowth. The preliminary results show that this implant may be a reliable alternative to other prosthetic mandibular reconstruction approaches.The first author would like to acknowledge FCT Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (Portugal) for the PhD grant SFRH/BDE/51143/2010. The authors also would like to acknowledge MCM - Mario da Costa Martins & Filho Lda. for all technical support provided during this work.