Morris, PJR;
Cox, PG;
Cobb, SNF;
(2022)
The biomechanical significance of the elongated rodent incisor root in the mandible during incision.
Scientific Reports
, 12
(1)
, Article 3819. 10.1038/s41598-022-07779-z.
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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 where the incisor is removed, but that the stress distribution across the wider mandible is only minimally affected. Thus, the long internal incisor appears to play a small role in resisting bending forces close to the incisor alveolus, and may act with the arch-like mandibular shape to strengthen the mandible in this region. However, the impact across the whole mandible is relatively limited, suggesting the highly elongate incisor in diprotodont mammals may be principally driven by other factors such as rapid incisor wear.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | The biomechanical significance of the elongated rodent incisor root in the mandible during incision |
| Location: | England |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1038/s41598-022-07779-z |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-07779-z |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
| Keywords: | Animals, Finite Element Analysis, Incisor, Mandible, Rodentia, Tooth Root |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences > Cell and Developmental Biology |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10165476 |
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