Volume 60 (2010) Issue: 2010 No#2-3

BIOMECHANICAL ASPECT OF FELINE DENTAL RESORPTIVE LESIONS FORMATION

Author(s): Živković R, Milić Lemić Aleksandra, Tihaček Šojić Ljiljana, Ilić J

Keywords:feline dental resorptive lesions, occlusal stress

Feline dental resorptive lesions affect more than one third of all adult domestic cats and continue to be an enigma in the veterinary dental science although different theories about the pathogenesis of these lesions have been proposed. Recently, a hypothesis was introduced that local mechanical trauma could be an important factor in the initiation of feline dental resorptive lesions and that there is a correlation between the occurrence of resorptive lesions and occlusal trauma in cats. The aim of this study was to analyse stress distribution in feline tooth during occlusal loading in order to accept or reject the hypothesis that dental resorptive lesions in cats might be caused by occlusal trauma. A solid model of feline tooth had to be created in order to perform the investigation. The idea was to gain data for tooth displacement (deformation) and stress and strain distribution under loading generally for any feline tooth using the finite element method. The results of the study contribute to the theory that occlusal overload might be one of the causes in multifactorial resorptive lesions in cats. Succession of tensile and compressive stresses and tooth displacement during occlusal loading might be a contributive factor in the pathogenesis of feline resorptive lesions. However, further research is required to confirm this statement.