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Researchers Use Computer Model of Reptile to Help Prevent Damage to Dental Implants

Guest post by: Carrie Thompson

Article Overview: Animated, three-dimensional, computer models used to understand the relationship between the jaw and the teeth, and how the body prevents damage to itself during chewing.

Researchers Use Computer Model of Reptile to Help Prevent Damage to Dental Implants

Scientists from the University of Hull, University College London and the Hull York Medical School have utilized an animated 3D computer model of a reptile to investigate the feedback that occurs between the jaw joints and muscles in a creature that lacks periodontal ligaments. This research, funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), is useful for current dentistry because modern dental implants used in human patients are fused to the jaw bone, similar to the teeth of the tuatara. Dr Neil Curtis from the University of Hull, a BBSRC postdoctoral fellow, explained that humans and many other animals prevent damage to their teeth and jaws when eating because the ligament that holds each tooth in place provides signals to the brain to warn against biting too hard. Dr Marc Jones from University College London, also a BBSRC postdoctoral fellow, went on to say: ‘In the sugar-rich western world many people end up losing their teeth and have to live with dentures or dental implants instead. They've also lost the periodontal ligament that would attach their teeth so we wanted to know how their brains can tell what's going on when they are eating.'

The computer model has helped researchers to understand the interplay between the tuatara's jaw joints and muscles. According to Dr. Curtis, ‘Tuatara live happily for over 60 years in the wild without replacing their teeth because they have the ability to unconsciously measure the forces in their jaw joint and adjust the strength of the jaw muscle contractions accordingly.' Similarly, people with dentures and dental implants are able to avoid breaking their false teeth or having jaw disorders.

Professor Douglas Kell, BBSRC's chief executive, stated that it would have been impossible in evolution to predict future innovations such as dental implants and "yet this research indicates a level of redundancy in our biology that opens opportunities to support long-term health and wellbeing."

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Article Tags: 3D, dental implants, dentures, dinosaurs, science



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