Possible Approaches in Modeling Mastication Forces

Abstract

The paper describes three possible approaches of modeling mastication forces during functional movements of the human lower jaw. A simplified geometrical model of the bimaxillar bone, joint and dental system has been used as a starting point for modeling and simulation of mandibular dynamics. Different elements have been gradually added to the initial model, as modeling and simulation evolved from one approach to the other. The first modeling approach, based on a differential equation of mechanic work balance, resulted in a series of functional chronograms of mastication. The second modeling approach addressed static and dynamic load distribution of mastication forces in fixed partial dentures. It used ordinary differential equations, associated to a food bolus model deformed between prosthetically reconstructed dental arches. A reasonable compromise between statistical interpretation and mathematical formalism, specific for distributed parameter processes, has been attempted in the third modeling approach of mastication, based on partial derivative equations.