This study examines 0.6 N-4.8 N as the maximum orthodontic force to be applied to dental pulp and apical NVB on intact and 1-8 mm reduced periodontal-ligament (PDL), in connection with movement and ischemic, necrotic and resorptive risk. In addition, it examines whether the Tresca finite-element-analysis (FEA) criterion is more adequate for the examination of dental pulp and its apical NVB. Eighty-one (nine patients, with nine models for each patient) anatomically correct models of the periodontium, with the second lower-premolar reconstructed with its apical NVB and dental pulp were assembled, based on X-ray CBCT (cone-beam-computed-tomography) examinations and subjected to 0.6 N, 1.2 N, 2.4 N and 4.8 N of intrusion, extrusion, translation, rotation, and tipping. The Tresca failure criterion was applied, and the shear stress was assessed. Forces of 0.6 N, 1.2 N, and 2.4 N had negligible effects on apical NVB and dental pulp up to 8 mm of periodontal breakdown. A force of 4.8 N was safely applied to apical NVB on the intact periodontium only. Rotation and tipping seemed to be the most invasive movements for the apical NVB. For the dental pulp, only the translation and rotation movements seemed to display a particular risk of ischemia, necrosis, and internal orthodontic-resorption for both coronal (0-8 mm of loss) and radicular pulp (4-8 mm of loss), despite the amount of stress being lower than the MHP. The Tresca failure criterion seems more suitable than other criteria for apical NVB and dental pulp.
Keywords: apical neuro-vascular bundle; dental pulp; finite element analysis; maximum orthodontic force; orthodontic movements; periodontal-ligament breakdown; physiological hydrostatic-pressure.