Deformation behavior analysis of the elements dentition and a single-layered mouthguard in the framework of contact interaction

The work deals with the modeling of the contact of the teeth with and without taking into account a single-layer mouthguard made of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA). The analysis of the geometrical configuration influence of the dentition elements on the stress-strain state and the contact zone of the biomechanical contact unit is performed. The all calculated schemes are considered in an axisymmetric formulation with the contact interaction including a friction along the conjugate surfaces. In the work series of numerical experiments for various values of indentation force (ranging from 50 to 500 N) was carried out, a significant drop in the intensity of stress in hard tissues of the teeth was established by more than 60% when using a mouthguard. It is established that the maximum contact pressure for the model taking into account the mouthguard is 3 times less than in the model without taking into account the prototype structure. The dependences of the stress and strain intensity on the magnitude of indentation force in the teeth and the material of the mouthguard are obtained. The dependence of the stress intensity distribution fields in the teeth on the geometrical configuration of the dentition elements is established. The teeth contact of through the mouthguard with the initially point contact zone in the teeth closing region of the has greatest decrease in the level of stress intensity, more than 40 times. The evaluation of the tooth pair geometrical characteristics influence on the level of plastic deformations is also performed: the dependence of plastic deformation on the indentation force is nonlinear and reaches by maximum indentation force ~ 78% for the calculated scheme with initially point contact zone in the teeth closing area and ~ 28% for the rest of the considered calculated schemes.