In silico approach towards neuro-occlusal rehabilitation for the early correction of dental malocclusions in children
- Autores: Carlos Javier Ortún Terrazas
- Directores de la Tesis: José Cegoñino Banzo (dir. tes.)
- Lectura: En la Universidad de Zaragoza ( España ) en 2021
- Idioma: español
- Tribunal Calificador de la Tesis: Urbano Antonio Santana Penín (presid.), Francisco Javier Medel Rezusta (secret.), Vincenzo Moramarco (voc.)
- Programa de doctorado: Programa de Doctorado en Ingeniería Mecánica por la Universidad de Zaragoza
- Materias:
- Enlaces
- Tesis en acceso abierto en: Zaguán
- Resumen
This dissertation aims to computationally evaluate the effect of early therapies, in particular Neuro-occlusal Rehabilitation (N.O.R), in the correction of dental malocclusions during childhood, checking their influence on the craniofacial complex’s development and functionality. Moreover, this work aims to be a guide for the computational modelling of the craniofacial complex, encouraging future researchers, engineers, dentists and clinicians to include biomechanical models in their studies.
Within all the malocclusions, in this dissertation, the effect of the unilateral crossbite (UXB) was particularly analysed since it is a frequent cause of the asymmetric development of the craniofacial complex, affecting about 11.7 % of children in deciduous dentition. According to N.O.R, early treatments, such as selective grinding, could correct the occlusal imbalance and promote the symmetric development of the craniofacial complex in patients with UXB. Nevertheless, these treatments are often delayed to adulthood due to the lack of scientific evidence of N.O.R’s outcomes, the uncertain development of the craniofacial complex and the possibility of spontaneous corrections during growth, as it will widely introduce in this dissertation. Despite the great efforts achieved to date, the experimental techniques and computational models have not yet demonstrated the relationship between form and function of the craniofacial complex and therefore justify analytically the N.O.R approaches. Greater knowledge of these issues could encourage the early treatment of malocclusions, improving the patients' lives.
This dissertation presents a computational methodology, using the finite element method, to evaluate the UXB’s effect on asymmetric development during childhood and to prove analytically N.O.R’s outcomes. To this end, as it is extensively detailed in this dissertation, the mechanical characterization of the connective tissues, the development of detailed computational models and the accurate 3D-analysis of the asymmetry were carefully conducted. This research is, therefore, the first analytical study of N.O.R treatments through the finite element method. Moreover, this dissertation could be also considered as a good reference in the computational modelling of chewing and in the biomechanical study of craniofacial development according to its shape-function relationship.
