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Comparison of occlusal loading conditions in a lower second premolar using three-dimensional finite element analysis

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Abstract

Objectives

This study aimed to compare the patterns of stress distribution in a lower second premolar using three conventional occlusal loadings and two more realistic loading scenarios based on occlusal contact areas.

Materials and methods

The teeth of a dried modern human skull were micro-CT scanned in maximum intercuspation contact with a Viscom X8060 NDT X-ray system. A kinematic analysis of the surface contacts between antagonistic right upper and lower teeth during the power stroke was carried out in the Occlusal Fingerprint Analyser (OFA) software. Stress distribution in the lower right second premolar was analysed using three-dimensional finite element (FE) methods, considering occlusal information taken from OFA results (cases 4–5). The output was compared to that obtained by loading the tooth with a single point force (cases 1–3).

Results

Results for cases 1–3 differ considerable from those of cases 4–5. The latter show that tensile stresses might be concentrated in grooves and fissures of the occlusal surface, in the marginal ridges, in the disto-lingual and in the distal side of the root. Moreover, the premolar experiences high tensile stresses in the buccal aspect of the crown, supporting the idea that abfraction might be a dominant factor in the aetiology of non-carious cervical lesions.

Conclusions

The application of FE methods in dental biomechanics can be advanced considering individual wear patterns.

Clinical relevance

More realistic occlusal loadings are of importance for both new developments in prosthetic dentistry and improvements of materials for tooth restoration, as well to address open questions about the worldwide spread problem of dental failure.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Martin Dockner from the Vienna Micro-CT Lab for assistance during scanning. The Occlusal Fingerprint Analyser software programming is financed by the ‘Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft’ (DFG, German Research Foundation). This is publication no. 53 of the DFG Research Unit 771 ‘Function and performance enhancement in the mammalian dentition—phylogenetic and ontogenetic impact on the masticatory apparatus’. This work was supported by NSF 01-120 Hominid Grant 2007.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany

    Stefano Benazzi

  2. Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Massachusetts, 160 Governors Drive, Amherst, MA, USA

    Ian R. Grosse

  3. Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna, Via degli Ariani 1, 48126, Ravenna, Italy

    Giorgio Gruppioni

  4. Department of Anthropology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090, Vienna, Austria

    Gerhard W. Weber

  5. Department of Palaeoanthropology and Messel Research, Senckenberg Research Institute, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Ottmar Kullmer

Authors
  1. Stefano Benazzi
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  2. Ian R. Grosse
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  3. Giorgio Gruppioni
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  4. Gerhard W. Weber
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  5. Ottmar Kullmer
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Correspondence to Stefano Benazzi.

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Benazzi, S., Grosse, I.R., Gruppioni, G. et al. Comparison of occlusal loading conditions in a lower second premolar using three-dimensional finite element analysis. Clin Oral Invest 18, 369–375 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00784-013-0973-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00784-013-0973-8

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