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Figure 1. Experimental set-ups. Intra-oral appliances used in the in vivo study (A) and its occlusal condition visualized with silicone check-bite (B). The lower figure (C) shows the three-dimensional FE model of the human mandible used in the in vitro study, which consisted of 6 materials (enamel, dentin, periodontium, cortical and cancellous bone, and soft tissues within TMJs). Arrows at the nodes on the upper surface of the glenoid fossa and the middle node of each occlusal surface indicate three-dimensional restraints of these nodes. The reaction forces on these nodes were regarded as the TMJ loads and bite forces. Missing occlusal contacts on each tooth were modeled by not restraining the node of the occlusal surface of the tooth concerned.
