Design and characterization of a mandibular prosthesis prototype by hemimandibulectomy

The design and development of highly accurate prostheses for individual cases according to the patient’s condition is one of the current challenges in the fields of medicine and engineering. The use of tomographic archives uploaded to a specialized computer program for its rendering (creation of a 3-D model) allows specialists decide on the surgical approach to take, by creating a model which possesses precise dimensions, corresponding to the exact anatomy of the patient. The use of computational programs (CAD/CAM programs) not only allows the development of better designs, but also the evaluation of the proposed models through a force moment analysis in conjunction with the assignment of the endorsed materials for its posterior development by setting the prototypes to the Maximum Shear Stress principle and analyzing the results of its displacement’s and the Stress von Mises’ tests, specialists have the opportunity to know if the final design will be able to support the muscular tensions and occlusion forces caused by the elongation of the muscular fibers.