An in-vitro surrogate model of the human jaw for the biomechanical evaluation of dental implants
Abstract
In order to study the biomechanical effects of dental implants, many resort on one hand, to utilize live animals where the animal’s own teeth are removed and the tissue is healed before sacrificing the animal. This practice is very costly and the removal of the teeth may be altering the biomechanical properties of the jawbone. On the other hand, others have used maxillary and mandibular bones directly extracted from human cadavers. Aside from the risks of contamination from human tissue, the number of available jaws that fit the edentulous profile to allow for implant insertion is very limited on the quantity of donors and can be very costly to obtain. Through this study, a surrogate animal model of the human jawbone is proposed that is able to match the micro-architectural characteristics and biomechanical characteristics in addition to the layer of smooth tissue analogous to the gums. To this end, bovine proximal tibial condyles are selected. The first aim is the quantification of the bone volume ratio, thickness of the cortical layer, and architecture of the trabeculae by using x-ray imaging and micro-computed tomography. The second aim is to evaluate the biomechanical properties such as the elastic modulus and yield strength through axial compression testing and to measure the peak screw pullout strength in accordance to the available literature. The results demonstrate that the bovine proximal tibial condyle confidently provides adequate micro-architectural and biomechanical characteristics comparable to the human jaw.
Degree
M.S.B.M.E.
Advisors
Akkus, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Biomedical engineering|Dentistry|Biomechanics
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