The Elastic Properties of a Human Mandible

¹ Biomechanics Laboratory, Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Crippled Children, 2222 Welborn Street, Dallas, Texas 75219
² Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118

This paper is a report on a study of the elastic properties of the human mandible. Using a continuous-wave ultrasound technique, we determined the elastic constants of ten small specimens taken from various locations within a single mandible. Seven of the nine independent orthotropic elastic constants were determined for each specimen. The data indicate that human mandibular bone is elastically homogeneous but anisotropic. In the elastic properties it exhibits, it is similar to, if slightly less stiff than, human and canine femora. Indeed, elastically it seems like a long bone bent into the shape of a horseshoe.

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				C.L. Schwartz-Dabney and P.C. Dechow Edentulation Alters Material Properties of Cortical Bone in the Human Mandible J. Dent. Res., September 1, 2002; 81(9): 613 - 617. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]