Effect of orthotropic material on finite element modeling of completely dentate mandible

• Orthotropic axes fields of alveolar ridge were generated with harmonic fields.
• Orthotropy has significant effects on stress distribution and volumetric strains.
• Orthotropic model demonstrated some mechanical optimality of mandible.
• Orthotropic model is more realistic than isotropic model for mandible.

The objective of this investigation is to construct a high quality complete dentate mandible model with detailed biological structures, and assign mandibular bone with inherent orthotropic material characteristics. Three different types of scan data are used to elaborate detailed mandibular structures, including the cortical and cancellous bone, tooth enamel, dentin, periodontal ligament, temporal fossa, TMJ articular disk, temporal cartilage, and condylar cartilage. In addition, an extended orthotropic material assignment methodology based on harmonic fields is used to handle the alveolar ridge region of dentate mandible, to generate compatible orthotropic axes fields. The influence of orthotropic material on the biomechanical behavior of complete dentate mandible is analyzed compared with commonly used isotropic model. The result revealed that the orthotropic model would induce higher stress values and more well-distributed stress pattern than the isotropic model, especially for the cancellous bone. And the orthotropic model would induce lower volumetric strain values than the isotropic model on the cortical bone. It was concluded that elastic orthotropy had a significant effect on the simulated stress value and distribution pattern, as well as the volumetric strain, and demonstrated the mechanical optimality of the mandible.

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