A total number of 37 volunteers were selected from the 420 patients who had been referred to the North Tehran Dental Hospital during 23 months. The patients included 19 women and 18 men aged between 21-49 years old and with a body mass index between 18.2-21.9 kg.m-2. 5.5% of male and 10.5% of female patients had in up to 3 teeth a history of tooth caries and tooth fracture which did not result from jaw or mouth injury and were treated previously and did not pose a particular problem during the study. Further, 55.5% of male and 52.6% of female patients had a history of dental filling in up to 2 teeth. All patients were evaluated first using a questionnaire in order to identify the main complaint, pain history and bruxism [25,26]. It should be noted that this research was approved by the Ethics Committee of the North Tehran Branch of the Islamic Azad University (No. 18245/86-2) in accordance with the 1964 Helsinki declaration. In this study, all participants provided informed consent according to the ethical standard. An equally standardized diagnostic protocol was applied by a professional dentist for all patients before and after the occlusal splint therapy. This diagnostic protocol included an interview and a systematic evaluation of dental, cranial, facial, cervical and other oral structures [25,26]. No craniofacial surgery, no use of any medication and no reported systemic disease were the initial inclusion criteria. Selection of patients with sleep bruxism was done based on the criteria of American Academy of Sleep Medicine as follows [27]:
- Occurrence of tooth grinding at least 3 nights per weeks for 6 months, as confirmed by a sleep partner; B. clinical presence of tooth wear; C. hypertrophy of masseter muscle; and D. occurrence of fatigue or tenderness of jaw muscle in the morning.
From the Subjects referred to the North Tehran Dental Hospital, 36 volunteers included 18 women and 18 men aged between 26-52 years old and with a body mass index of 19.6-22.3 kg.m-2, who had no history of disease or symptoms associated with bruxism or TMJ disorders, were selected as control subjects. They were completely healthy with regard to bruxism or TMJ disorders, but had toothache from a cracked or attritioned tooth (22.2% of males and 16.6% of females), tooth fracture and tooth caries in up to 4 teeth (27.8% males and 38.8% female). 66.7% of males and 77.8% of females from the control subjects needed a dental implant for up to 4 teeth. During the diagnosis and treatment process, CT scans were done based on the specialist’s diagnosis. Also 61.1% of males and 55.5% of females from the control subjects had a history of dental filling in up to 3 teeth. It should be noted that the control subjects underwent all stages of diagnosing process and informing about this study the same as the patients, and provided informed consent as well.
Cone-beam CT (CBCT) scanning was used for preparing images due to its low costs, unique accessibility and low effective radiation dose. A Newtom VG system (QR, Verona Italy) was used for CBTC scan setting. The scan setting included: 3.6 mAs and 90 KV with radiation time of 15 seconds and field of view of 20×19 inches. Furthermore, the subjects were in standing position during scanning and their head was in natural head position. Patients were asked not to swallow or breathe during imaging. The voxel size and slice thickness were 0.3×0.3×0.3 mm. and 0.3 mm, respectively. It should be noted that for all patients and control subjects, the jaw was in the maximum intercuspation position during imaging.
The CT scan images of the subjects’ jaw and teeth of were used and the DICOM files of these images were imported into Mimics software version 13.1 (Materialise, Leuven, Belgium) for producing the point clouds of the maxilla, mandible and teeth of each subject as separate parts (Fig 1, a). In Mimics, the bony parts of the maxilla, mandible and teeth in image file were kept. After modifying the areas containing soft tissue in all image slices and repeating these modifications layer by layer, the spaces between layers were finally modified and differentiated and the point clouds of the teeth and jaw bone were extracted as the software output. Subsequently, the point clouds were transferred to the CATIA software version 5R21 (Dassault Systemes, Waltham, Mass., USA), and a three-dimensional model of the maxilla, mandible and teeth was built (Fig 1, b).
Three-dimensional models of the maxilla, mandible and teeth of all 37 patients and 36 control subjects were assembled in conditions of no contact pressure with respect to each other. Six months after insertion of the occlusal splint, the process of CT scanning, creating the point cloud, and building the three-dimensional models of jaws, teeth and splint were repeated for patients with the splint in their mouth. At this stage, the 3D models of patients’ splints were constructed from their CT scan images and the 3D splint models were inserted between the patients’ upper and lower teeth. It should be noted that all patients were treated using occlusal splint therapy based on the diagnosis of an experienced dentist. However, sleep hygiene measures combined with relaxation techniques were advised and prescribed for all patients. The material of splints was a hard colorless acrylic resin polymerized using the conventional heat-curing method. It is worth noting that due to personal limitations of the patients, it was only possible to create the 3D model of jaw, teeth and splint of 10 women and 11 men after 6 months of using splint. Since the analyses based on FEM are among the most familiar methods for biological simulation [28-41], the assembled models were transferred finally to ABAQUS software version 6.14 (Dassault Systemes) for FE analysis. Furthermore, for comparing the results of computer simulations in patients and control subjects and also for comparing the results in patients before and after the occlusal splint therapy, three specific anatomical points of the skull of samples were used as set points to synchronize the procedures and to standardize the samples’ head position. The 3D models of the samples were standardized in terms of defining the x, y, and z axis with respect to the same reference in order to ensure the correct loading distribution for comparing the biomechanical parameters of the models with each other.
Table 1 shows the material properties considered for jaw bones, teeth, and splints [20,42]. One of the most important points in FE analysis is how different parts of the model interact with each other. In this study, these interactions and constraints were defined based on the actual anatomical function of these components in human body. The constraint considered for the contact between the inserted teeth on the upper and lower jaws with splint was a surface-to-surface constraint with a friction coefficient of 0.5 [20]. The degree of freedom of the upper surface of maxilla was considered to be zero at all three directions of x, y and z, i. e., the surface was considered to be fixed. Other degrees of freedom were considered in accordance with the real performance of TMJ, so that the necessary degrees of freedom for opening and closing movements of jaw (rotational degree of freedom) as well as the translation and lateral displacement of jaws over each other (translational degree of freedom) were considered (Fig 2, a). According to a previous study, a first order Ogden hyperelastic model was used for defining the periodontal ligament with a Poisson’s ratio of 0.45 and the material parameter MPa [43]. The average force exerted by the medial pterigoid muscle and masseter muscle for both of the left and right muscles was assumed to be 50 N [20,42]. It should be noted that, according to previous studies, the force of these muscles should be applied under a particular angle to the model, as shown in Fig 2a. One of the most important issues in numerical computer simulations is to ensure the mesh convergence of responses [44-48]. The tetrahedral element was used for meshing the models (Fig 1c). The results showed that the maximum difference between the stress values in the medium and fine meshes in all three groups of patients, control subjects and patients after using the occlusal splint for 6 months was less than 1.8%. Therefore, the convergence of responses from the grid and time step was ensured (Fig 2, b).
Table 1. Material properties of jaw bone, teeth and occlusal splint [20, 42].
Parameters
|
Elastic modules (MPa)
|
Poison ratio
|
Jaw bone
|
1370
|
0.3
|
Teeth
|
18000
|
0.31
|
Occlusal splint
|
0.027
|
0.35
|
Statistical analyses
The mean value, standard deviation (SD) and coefficient of variation (CV) for maximum stress and maximum deformity were calculated using SPSS version 22 (IBM Corp., Armonk , New York, USA) in all three groups of patients, control subjects and patients after using the occlusal splint for 6 months.