Occlusal Stress Distribution on the Mandibular First Premolar – FEM Analysis

Abstract

Objective. The aim of this paper was to analyze the distribution of stress and deformation on the man­dibular first premolar under two types of loading (axial and para-axial load of 200 N) using the FEM computer method.

Materials and Method. For this research a μCT scan of the first mandibular premolar was used, and the method used in this research was FEM analysis under two types of loading.

Results. The values of the von Mises stress measured in the cervical part of an intact tooth under axial load were up to 12 MPa, and under paraaxial load over 50 MPa. The val­ues of the stress measured on the bottom of the non-carious lesion are very high ≈ 240 Mpa. Stress values in the cervical part of the intact tooth are higher in the zone of the sub-surface enamel. The deformation values of the tooth under para-axial loading were ≈ 10 times higher than the value of the deformation under axial load. The greatest deformations were seen in the area of the tooth crown.

Conclusions. Occlusal load­ing leads to significant stress in the cervical part of teeth. The values of the measured stress are greater un­der the action of paraxial load. The values of stress in abfraction lesions measured under a paraxial load are extremely high. Exposing the lesion to further stress will lead to its deepening. The total deformation of the entire tooth under paraxial load was ≈ 10 times higher compared to the deformation value of the tooth under axial load.