The biomechanical significance of the elongated rodent incisor root in the mandible during incision.

ABSTRACT: Rodents are characterised by a distinctive masticatory apparatus which includes a single pair of enlarged and continually growing incisors. This morphology, termed diprotodonty, has also independently evolved in a number of other mammals, including the aye-aye. This study examined the functional significance of the internal "root" of the elongated rodent-like incisor. The mandibles of four rodents and an aye-aye were modelled to exhibit incrementally shorter incisor roots. Finite element analysis was used to predict stress and strain patterns across the jaw to determine whether the length of the incisor root contributes to the resistance of mechanical forces encountered in the mandible during incision. It was found that von Mises stresses increase in the region of the mandible local to whe

SUBMITTER: Morris PJR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8907204 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature