Investigation of dental biomaterials under load using a digital image correlation system

The digital image correlation method was used in this study to investigate heat polymerizable acrylic resin, which is the material of choice for prosthesis in edentulous patients. The aim was to analyze and determine the force-induced displacement and strain of a complete denture in the physiological force field of edentulous patients. An acrylic lower complete denture was made for the edentulous mandible, placed on the residual ridge of the macerated mandible bone, lacquered with spray, and exposed to a force of 300 N. The Digital Image Correlation system (DIC) (GOM, Braunschweig, Germany) was used to measure the strain in the complete denture, consisting of two digital cameras and the software ARAMIS (6.2.0, Braunschweig, Germany). Both fields indicated the maximum dimensional changes occurred just below the point of force incidence. The displacement field registered movements in the range from 0.165 to 0.782 mm and the principal strain field showed strain values between 1.25 and 18.94%. In vitro investigation of the dynamic behavior of the lower complete denture under load by using the optical measuring system-DIC demonstrated that the strain/displacement alterations were generally influenced by prosthesis movement toward the residual alveolar ridge.