Abstract
The amount of forces exerted by the oral soft tissue which surrounds a denture had been measured by the three dimensional transducers. It is important to record the direction of the force as well as to measure the amount of force. In the past this has been believed to be a difficult task. However in this study both the directions and the amount of the force on the area of buccal and lingual surface of the first molar of the lower denture were recorded during prearranged movements which were selected from various oral functions.
The five subjects selected for this study each had a mandible with a free end saddle.
Findings were as follows;
1. At the rest position of a mandible, the force exerted by the oral soft tissue was minimal.
2. In the most of the movements tested, most frequently detected force direction upon the buccal surface was from disto-coronal.
3. On the lingual surface the direction depended on the tongue movements during prearranged movements.
