Definition of the magnetic circuit topology of a dental attachment

There are a multitude of systems used in dental attachments considering combined prosthetic. When designing the dental treatment plan, arises the problem of choosing the most suitable system. Habit and experience will influence this choice, but it would be interesting to point objectively on the real advantages and disadvantages of these different elements. Moreover, implementation, wear and maintenance problems often lead to come back to more classical solutions. Among these systems, the magnetic attachments are considered as a very specific technology. Their use is very simple for both the patient and the practitioner, and they have few disadvantages. The present paper tries to contribute to a better understanding of this alternative solution. To do so, a brief bibliographical analysis is first proposed. Then, the two main magnetic architectures used in commercial devices are described. The constitutive materials are also rapidly dealt with. From this analysis, the design optimisation of the magnetic circuit is carried out by using both analytical and numerical calculations. A novel magnetic architecture is proposed, which demonstrates the optimisation potentialities for such an attachment system.