Phenomenological evaluation of fatigue cracking of dental restorations under conditions of cyclic mechanical loads

Acta Bioeng Biomech. 2012;14(2):9-17.

Abstract

This paper deals with microcracks in dental filling material and hard tissues of the teeth treated conservatively. Human teeth, removed due to orthodontic or surgical reasons, were the subject of those research studies. The studies have been conducted in vitro with the application of mastication simulator. It has been indicated that the number of cracks and the degree of their expansion increase with the number of load cycles. The number of microcracks of the filling material on the masticating surface is lower than in the deeper layers; however, they are more extensive. After applying a specified long load series a progressive increase of microcracks in the restoration material and their expansion in the contact zone with the dentine have been observed. It has been demonstrated that on the masticating surface the number of microcracks and their expansion were proportional to the number of load cycles.

MeSH terms

  • Dental Restoration Repair / methods*
  • Dental Stress Analysis / methods*
  • Evaluation Studies as Topic*
  • Humans
  • Mastication
  • Molar / pathology
  • Molar / physiology
  • Molar / ultrastructure
  • Stress, Mechanical*