Current applications of finite element methods in dentistry

Abstract

This chapter introduces recent applications of finite element method (FEM) as one of the promising methodological options in the clinical dental sciences. A PubMed-based review indicated that the number of published FEM studies in dentistry was 2,919 in all time and 1,896 during the last decade on the 7th of July 2017. The articles have increased during the last two decades from 35 (0.3% of all scientific articles from the dental society) in 1996 to 97 (0.7%) in 2006 and 216 (0.7%) in 2016. The FEM studies on dental implant accounted for 40.0% of all FEM studies in dentistry during the last decade. Unlike manufactory products of relatively uniform configuration, 3D modeling has a considerable advantage in the analyses of the oral tissues with complex and irregular morphology. Nonlinear analysis has become an increasingly powerful methodology for the simulations of the tooth-to-tooth contacts, restorative interface degradation and debonding, and the incomplete bone-implant osseointegration. While, a relatively low increase rate of the nonlinear studies was indicated, presumably because the simulations of the oral environment may still pose some difficulties to complete model solutions. The use of CT data of patients to create the maxillary and mandibular bone models has increased with incorporated CAD-based implant models. The mathematical approach to allocate Young’s modulus to a local bone segment is still a challenging issue to establish validity of large and realistic models of oral soft and hard tissues.