Human bitting force calculating instrument

Abstract

Bite force can be defined as the force applied by the masticatory muscles in dental occlusion. Bite force is the resultant of all the forces acting on individual teeth due to various components of the masticatory system. Knowledge of individual bite force helps dentist to understand different type of dentition, the mechanics of mastication for evaluation of the therapeutic effects of prosthetic devices and to provide reference data for studies on the biomechanics of prosthetic devices. Currently, there are direct and indirect methods to determine bite force. Direct method includes use of suitable transducers and indirect method includes use of functional relationship between bite force and physiological variables. The bite force is a function of many factors and hence difficult to compute. Although direct methods are accurate and convenient to determine individual bite force which requires sophisticated instrumentation and intervention whereas indirect methods are not accurate and require investigation of many physiological parameters. However, it is difficult to establish exact mathematical model to estimate individual bite force. This paper presents a Finite Element Analysis (FEA) based indirect method to estimate bite force. Commercial FEA software's like HyperMesh and RADIOSS are widely used in engineering and the biomedical community for diverse applications. FE model is built using 3D CAD model of jaw created using CT scan images to estimate theoretical maximum bite force as well as individual tooth load.