2026 Volume 32 Issue 1 Pages 25-31
The contraction forces of the jaw muscles, tongue muscles, and even facial muscles are used as power sources of kinetic energy to perform various functions of the stomatognathic system, such as mastication, swallowing, and breathing. They are expressed as occlusal forces on the dentition or temporomandibular joints, which further induce mechanical stress within each tissue and trigger mechanobiological responses to that stress, such as inflammation and bone remodeling. These “forces and biological reactions” are closely related to the success or failure of prosthetic dental treatments and the onset of temporomandibular dysfunction. In other words, to obtain favorable outcomes in prosthetic treatment, appropriate force control is essential; therefore, it is important to quantify the forces applied to the dentition during function. We previously developed a system that can measure three-dimensional loads applied to teeth and implants, in vivo, by incorporating small piezoelectric transducers into dental crown prosthetic devices and performing load measurements under various conditions. However, it is difficult to accurately measure loads in the oral cavity, and there were many obstacles. In this review, we introduce the path taken to develop our load measurement method and review the important aspects of in vivo load measurements.
