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Functional adaptation of the infant craniofacial system to mechanical loadings arising from masticatory forces

Liang, Ce; Landi, Federica; Çetin, Izel Ezgi; Profico, Antonio; Buzi, Costantino; Dutel, Hugo; Khonsari, Roman Hossein; ... Moazen, Mehran; + view all (2024) Functional adaptation of the infant craniofacial system to mechanical loadings arising from masticatory forces. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences , 291 (2025) , Article 20240654. 10.1098/rspb.2024.0654. Green open access

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Abstract

The morphology and biomechanics of infant crania undergo significant changes between the pre- and post- weaning phases due to increasing loading of the masticatory system. The aims of this study were to characterise the changes in muscle forces, bite forces and the pattern of mechanical strain and stress arising from the aforementioned forces across crania in the first 48 months of life using imaging and finite element method. A total of 51 head computed-tomography scans of normal individuals were collected and analysed from a larger database of 217 individuals. The estimated mean muscle forces of temporalis, masseter and medial pterygoid increase from 30.9 to 87.0 N, 25.6 to 69.6 N and 23.1 to 58.9 N respectively (0–48 months). Maximum bite force increases from 90.5 to 184.2 N (3–48 months). And there is a change in the pattern of strain and stress from the calvaria to the face during the postnatal development. Overall, this study highlights the changes in the mechanics of craniofacial system during the normal development. It further raises questions as per how and what level of changes in the mechanical forces during the development can alter the morphology of the craniofacial system.

Type: Article
Title: Functional adaptation of the infant craniofacial system to mechanical loadings arising from masticatory forces
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2024.0654
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2024.0654
Language: English
Additional information: © 2024 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.
Keywords: masticatory muscle, temporal fascia, bite force, anatomical cross-sectional areas, finite-element analysis, computational biomechanics
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Mechanical Engineering
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10191001
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