This dissertation is a report on a study of the elastic properties of the human mandible. Using a pulse transmission technique, it was determined that the elastic stiffness 76 specimens, from various locations in the ramus and corpus of four mandibles material exhibited symmetry properties which were characteristics of anisotropic material In order to facilitate an understanding of the coordinate system used in determining the elastic stiffnesses of the specimens, a simplistic model can be employed. Assume that a section of the human mandible is projected point-by-point on to a straight line with the left wisdom tooth at one extreme, and the right wisdom tooth at the other Now consider this projection of the mandible to approximate a right circular cylinder. The x$\sb3$-direction is defined to be along the length of the cylinder, axial direction. The circumferential direction is designated by x$\sb2$ and the radial by x$\sb1$ The similarity between mandibular and femoral bone is quite remarkable. Femoral bone is slightly more dense and stiff, but the similarities far outweigh the differences. The average density of mandibular bone is 1799 kg/m$\sp3$ 95% of that of femoral bone. The average stiffness coefficient for mandibular bone is 96% of that of femoral bone. It would appear from this comparison that the mandible is in its elastic properties very much like a long bone bent in the shape of a parabola. The average technical constants for mandibular and femoral bone show a distinct parallelism It was determined from a study of the human mandible by region that the lingual region, surface in the proximity of the tongue, is most dense and stiff while the buccal, surface nearest the cheek, is the least stiff. Similarly, it was found that average specimens from mandibles with teeth were denser and stiffer than those from mandibles without teeth. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.) / acase@tulane.edu
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TULANE/oai:http://digitallibrary.tulane.edu/:tulane_27466 |
| Date | January 1989 |
| Contributors | Carter, Robert, Jr (Author), Kyame, Joseph J (Thesis advisor) |
| Publisher | Tulane University |
| Source Sets | Tulane University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | Access requires a license to the Dissertations and Theses (ProQuest) database., Copyright is in accordance with U.S. Copyright law |
Page generated in 0.0013 seconds