The proposed study is based on a clinical observation that the mandible normally has at base-line mechanical environment, moderate remodeling rate without implants, and that the increased remodeling was triggered by the insertion and subsequent loading of an implant. The basic hypothesis is that there are changes in the mechanical environment surrounding the implant and it is these changes that initiate bone remodeling. To verify the hypothesis first, the changes of the environment need to be identified. The mechanical parameters exhibiting significant changes will be considered as possible mechanical stimuli for initiating bone remodeling. Then the parameters will be correlated to the clinical and biological observations to identify the dominant parameters. In this study, we have developed two 3-D finite element models (FEMs) of a human mandible to: 1) determine the mechanical environment in the human mandible adjacent to the implant: and 2) identify the changes in the environment due to the implant and due to the implant superimposed by an orthodontics force. The FEMs have been created. Preliminary study showed that the increase of node points around the implant and the teeth would provide more reliable results. However, the space limitation and the speed of our Sun Workstations restricted our effort to increase the node number. I would like to apply for the Biomedical Grant (NIH) so that I can run our models using ABAQUS in the CRAY C90 supercomputer.
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