ABSTRACT

The chapter intends to outline the contribution offered by numerical techniques, in particular by the finite element method for the investigation of biomechanical problems in the dental area. The chapter does not claim to show all the activities developed in this field, rather, to show only the potentiality of the numerical approach. To do this, attention is focused on two specific fields: the numerical analysis of the response of dental implants and the numerical analysis of the response of natural teeth to the application of different types of loading. The research activity developed within classical fields of material mechanics can give bioengineers and clinicians a powerful tool for investigating the problems pertaining to dental implants and natural tooth response.