Determination of Stability of Dental Implant from Impedance Studies Using Resonance Frequency Analysis

A new method is being proposed in this paper to ascertain the stability of the dental implant after its placement in situ. One of the established methods of doing this is by monitoring the change of resonance frequency of the system with time which is typically referred to as Resonance Frequency Analysis [1]. Traditionally, the resonance frequency is identified from the magnitude of measured voltage using a two piezo arrangement in which one piezo acts as the source for the mechanical vibration transmitted into the system while the second piezo acts as the pick up [2]. In the present work, the resonance frequency has been identified separately by analysing the magnitude as well as the phase plots of the impedance of the (single piezo) transducer attached to the total system. A comparative study has been done of the magnitude and the phase of the impedance of the total system as the resonance frequencies change with time. From this study, it is observed that the phase of the impedance is a more reliable indicator for inferring the stability of the dental implant.