Determination of expander apparatus displacements and contact pressures on the mucosa using FEM modelling considering mandibular asymmetries.

This paper presents a method for prediction of forces and displacements in the expansion screw of a modified mandibular Schwarz appliance and the contact pressure distributions on the mucosa during malocclusions treatment. A 3D finite element biomechanical model of the complete mandible-mucosa-apparatus set was built using computerised tomographic images of a patient's mandible and constructive solid geometry by computer software. An iterative procedure was developed to handle a boundary condition that takes into account the mandibular asymmetries.

Measurement of thermophysical properties of human dentin: effect of open porosity.

Unlabelled: In dentistry caries removal can be performed with rotatory instruments or high intensity laser. Both techniques can heat the tooth and harm the pulp. The literature review about the measurement of human dentin thermophysical properties revealed a great variation of the values obtained by several authors, and most of the studies are outdated.