Development of FEA procedures for mechanical behaviors of maxilla, teeth and mandible

This paper aims at investigating mechanical behaviors of maxilla, teeth and mandible. There are three models considered; a model of one tooth with mandible subjected to coronal-apical, lingual-buccal and mesial-distal directional pressures, a model of an upper, a lower tooth with mandible and part of maxilla subjected to mandible displacements in coronal-apical, lingual-buccal and mesialdistal directions, and a model of three upper and two lower teeth with mandible and part of maxilla subjected to mandible displacements in coronal-apical direction. FE models of teeth, part of maxilla and mandible are generated based on CT images. Material properties for teeth, PDL, cortical bone, and cancellous bone are applied to the corresponding parts. From the analyses of one tooth model, von Mises stress distributions are obtained and compared with the previously reported data for validation of modeling approaches. Those are then applied to models with multiple teeth to examine effect of directions of mandible movement and interactions. Analytical results show that geometries of teeth and directions of masticatory movement can cause significant differences in stress distributions. It is suggested that importance of parameters to be considered in predicting mechanical behaviors under masticatory action, and provide useful information for developing prosthetic devices or diagnosis.