Preliminary Study on the mechanical properties of human alveolar trabecula

Objective:the objective of this study was to observe the morphology and structure of alveolar trabecula and study mechanical properties of human alveolar trabecula bone.

Method: Cancellous bone specimen were obtained from the posterior maxilla of an adult man cadaver with intact soft tissue. A 3D-solid model was built by the images obtained from the specimen in a Micro-ct system(Explore Locus SP, GE, USA ) at a resolution of 14ìm. The alveolar bone between the first and second premolar was chosen as the research region. And a mechanical model was built according to the region and the mechanical properties was analyzed under the invariable pressure by FEA hypothesizing the material of bone is uniformity and elastic isotropy

Result: the structure and morphology of the trabecula can be clearly reflected by 3D-model modeling using Micro-CT at high resolution. The Preliminary FEA study shows that there is no stress concentration while bearing the invariable pressure.

Conclusion: Through the Micro-CT and the converse modeling technology, the 3D model reflecting the space structure of human alveolar trabecula bone can be obtained. And the initial study shows that the sort of this structure might diffuse the stress imposed on it, in order to meet the demands of the complicated occlusion force, thus to support and protect the tooth.