Fracture prediction for a customized mandibular reconstruction plate with finite element method

Abstract

The use of customized reconstruction plate is an effective method for reconstruction of mandibular continuity defects. Plate fracture is one of the most common postoperative complications. The aim of this study was to investigate the biomechanical behavior of the customized reconstruction plate by finite element method. The geometry model was created from computed tomography (CT) data of a patient. The muscle forces for the defected mandible under two common static biting tasks were estimated by a numerical optimization strategy with the objective function of minimization of overall muscle force. The simulation results revealed that changing bite from molar region to incisor region increased the maximum stress in the plate. The position of stress concentration, the upper-inner edge of the plate near ramus-end, was in agreement with that of fracture, which indicated that stress concentration regions were critical regions for fracture failure.