Mechanical and Thermal Stress Behavior of a Conservative Proposed Veneer Preparation Design for Restoring Misaligned Anterior Teeth: A 3D Finite Element Analysis

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the biomechanical and thermal behavior of a proposed preparation design as a conservative treatment option that aims to preserve both gingival and tooth health structures through a comparative finite element analysis with non-preparation and conventional designs. 3D solid models of laminate veneers with different preparation designs were obtained using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) scanning of the maxillary incisor. A 100-Newton load was applied with angulations of 60° and 125° to the longitudinal axis of the tooth to determine the stresses during mastication. In addition, transient thermal analysis was performed to compare the temperature and thermal distribution of the restored tooth models when subjected to thermal loads of 5 °C and 55 °C. Teeth prepared with the proposed design showed lower stress distributions and a repairable failure mode, followed by the non-preparation design, while teeth prepared with the conventional design showed the highest stress concentrations. Furthermore, cold thermal loading yielded larger thermal stress distributions than hot thermal loading, independent of the preparation type, and the effect of temperature changes were within the critical limit near the pulp and dentin regions. Thus, the preparation design geometry affects the long-term success of laminate restoration, and the proposed design yields more uniform and appropriate stress distributions than the other techniques.