Effect of Denture Base Stiffness on Stress Redistribution in an Idealized Complete-Denture Model Under Static Bilateral Clenching: A Finite Element Analysis
TL;DR
Compared rigid and flexible denture base material conditions in an idealized maxillomandibular finite element (FE) model at the final static bilateral clenching step, the findings do not establish clinical adaptation, contact pressure, tissue protection, deformation, durability, or performance in immediate dentures.
Abstract
Denture base elastic-property assignment may influence how mechanical stress is distributed between a complete denture and its supporting tissues. This study compared rigid and flexible denture base material conditions in an idealized maxillomandibular finite element (FE) model at the final static bilateral clenching step. The model represented a fully edentulous geometry with coincident denture–gingiva surfaces connected by a tie constraint. The model did not include an initial interface gap, interface separation or sliding, extraction sockets, tissue remodeling, or time-dependent misfit. Geometry, mesh, boundary conditions, and loading were identical between the two conditions, whereas both the Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio assigned to the denture base differed. The peak magnitude of the minimum principal stress in the gingiva and the model-predicted local peak von Mises stress in the denture base elements were evaluated. Under the adopted mesh configuration, the flexible property assignment was associated with reductions of 28.6% and 35.3% in gingival compressive stress magnitude and increases of 70.5% and 73.9% in local denture base peak stress in the maxilla and mandible, respectively. These local peak differences are exploratory, model-dependent observations and have not been demonstrated to be mesh-independent. The findings do not establish clinical adaptation, contact pressure, tissue protection, deformation, durability, or performance in immediate dentures.