Clinical Data-Driven Finite Element Analysis of the Kinetics of Chewing Cycles in Order to Optimize Occlusal Reconstructions Dedicated to Professor Karl Stark Pister for his 95th birthday

The occlusal design plays a decisive role in the fabrication of dental restorations.Dentists and dental technicians depend on mechanical simulations of mandibular movement that are as accurate as possible,in particular,to produce interference-free yet chewing-efficient dental restorations.For this,kinetic data must be available,i.e.,movements and deformations under the influence of forces and stresses.In the present study,so-called functional data were collected from healthy volunteers to provide consistent information for proper kinetics.For the latter purpose,biting and chewing forces,electrical muscle activity and jaw movements were registered synchronously,and individual magnetic resonance tomograms(MRI)were prepared.The acquired data were then added to a large complex finite element model of the complete masticatory system using the functional information obtained and individual anatomical geometries so that the kinetics of the chewing process and teeth grinding could be realistically simulated.This allows developing algorithms that optimize computer-aided manufacturing of dental prostheses close to occlusion.In this way,a failure-free function of the dental prosthesis can be guaranteed and its damage during usage can be reduced or prevented even including endosseous implants.

A dual-axis chewing simulator for in vitro wear test of dental restoration materials

The wear rate of dental restoration materials on fixed, removable, and implant prostheses is important in the maintenance of cuspate form, masticatory efficiency and occlusal stability. Many permanent restoration materials such as composite, amalgam, gold, or porcelain show enough resistance to wear, but the wear rates of newly developed materials are generally unknown. To evaluate the wear rate of these dental materials, in vivo (clinic) and in vitro methods can be used. Since in vivo investigations are expensive, time consuming, and difficult to standardize, various in vitro methods have been developed. The use of a chewing machine is considered the best method, because a variety of wear mechanisms, temperature changes, and chemical effects of food and drink can be simulated simultaneously. This paper describes a dual axis chewing simulator for in vitro wear test of dental restoration materials. It consists of 8 test chambers, two stepper motors and related mechanism, a hot and cool water circle system, and a control unit. In the chambers, samples and antagonists make chewing movements vertically and Albert Ludwigs University, School of dentistry, Freiburg, Germany (Lü XY, Kern M and Strub JR) horizontally driven by the stepper motors so that the gnashing and slippage of two teeth against each other is simulated. A weighted test object is programmed to collide with a sample under precise operator control. The antagonists strike against the samples at various speeds from a slow nudge to snapping. Sample holders are designed for installation of varying samples, from single teeth to complete dentures. Two baths, six valves, and a group of pipes are used for the thermocycling. The machine can simulate various chewing modes in the mouth, including fully programmable thermal water cycling between 5℃ and 60℃ The control unit consists of a computer system with a built in specific program. Important operations such as “Start”, “Zero point”, and “Stop” are carried out by pressing the function keys on the front board of the unit. During the programming process and the simulation, several test modes and relevant test parameters are shown on the monitor. The control unit is connected via a series of interfaces to different controlled parts of the machine, such as the stepper motors and the pumps of cool and warm water.