Biomechanical and mechanobiological model of the midpalatal suture formation process, by computational simulation

Maxillary expansion is an orthodontic procedure that is used to treat the transverse maxillary deficiency. This procedure increases the transversal measurement of the maxilla taking advantage of the presence of the fibrous tissue that joins the two horizontal portions of the palate, known as midpalatal suture. To overcome some adverse effects that are generated with this treatment, or to make changes in the technique, it is necessary to understand the behavior of the suture and the surrounding tissues. Consequently, this work seeks to evaluate the midpalatal suture formation processes, and its response to the presence of external loads such as those generated during the expansion, from both an experimental and computational perspective. Therefore, the project was developed by means of an experimental model, a computational mechanobiological model, a biomechanical computational model in 2D and a biomechanical computational model in 3D. For the development of the experimental model, an in vivo procedure was standardized to observe the effect of tensile loads on cellular activity inside the suture and on the expressions of some molecular factors located at the bone–suture–bone interface. The procedure can be used as a reference for future research on this suture. With respect to the mechanobiological model, the mathematical model proposed achieves to reproduce the cellular migration phenomena that are carried out as a consequence of the expansion loads application and simulates the remodeling processes that occur at the bone margins, replicating the initial states of the midpalatal suture morphology in humans and generating more complex interdigitation patterns in expanded sutures. In relation to the biomechanical models, it was possible to evaluate the influence of certain parameters, such as the interdigitation degree and the anchorage type used, in the structural behavior of the oral cavity when it is subjected to an maxillary expansion treatment. The experimentally findings and the biomechanical models derived from this research can be used by dentists and clinicians to understand some events that happen into the oral cavity during the period of treatment. On the other hand, the mechanobiological model could be the first approach looking for reproduce the molecular and cellular interaction into the midpalatal suture, when a maxillary expansion is applied, by a combination of a basic chemotaxis model and a reaction–diffusion model.

• Autores: Guerrero Vargas, José Alejandro
• Tipo de recurso: Doctoral thesis
• Fecha de publicación: 2019
• Institución: Universidad Nacional de Colombia
• Repositorio: Universidad Nacional de Colombia
• Idioma: spa
• OAI Identifier: oai:repositorio.unal.edu.co:unal/77286
• Acceso en línea: https://repositorio.unal.edu.co/handle/unal/77286; http://bdigital.unal.edu.co/74918/
• Palabra clave: Finite element analysis; Análisis de elementos finitos; Midpalatal Suture; Sutura Medial Palatina; Maxillary expansion; Expansión del Maxilar; Biomechanics; Biomecánica; Mechanobiology; Mecanobiología
• Rights: openAccess
• License: Atribución-NoComercial 4.0 Internacional