The effect of resting tongue pressure, lip-cheek pressure, and interdental force on mandibular arch collapse and mesial molar drift: A preliminary 3D finite element study
- 1Department of Orthodontics, College of Dentistry and Dental Clinics, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, United States of America
- 2Division of Biostatistics and Computational Biology, College of Dentistry and Dental Clinics, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, United States of America
Abstract
Relapse of aligned mandibular anterior teeth and the progressive collapse of the mandibular anterior arch are historically significant problems for orthodontists. The etiology of this collapse, and the cause of mesial molar drift, are unknown. However, light continuous (quasi-continuous) intra-oral pressures and forces applied to the mandibular dentition have been implicated. To explore this further, we use three-dimensional finite element analysis to investigate the influence of these intra-oral loads (tongue pressure, lip-cheek pressure, and interdental force) on macroscopic teeth displacement patterns, specifically mandibular incisor crowding, mesial mandibular molar drift, and mandibular arch collapse. Dentitions of three-dimensional finite element mandibular models were subjected to a wide range of simulated tongue pressures, lip-cheek pressures, and transseptal fiber-mediated interdental forces reported in the literature. Resulting crown displacement measurements from these isolated loads were made along with measurements resulting from simultaneous combined application of literature-defined mean tongue pressure, lip-cheek pressure, and interdental force. Our results indicate that tongue pressure alone results in generalized arch expansion and tooth spacing while lip-cheek pressure and interdental force result in generalized arch collapse, anterior crowding, and mesial molar displacement. Simultaneous application of tongue pressure, lip-cheek pressure, and interdental force mean values, as would occur in vivo, results in incisor crowding, intercanine width reduction, and mesial molar displacement. Our results suggest mandibular anterior arch collapse (incisor crowding / intercanine width reduction), and mesial molar displacement result from simultaneous application of simulated tongue pressure, lip-cheek pressure, and interdental force.
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BibTeX
@article{toaddy2026effect,
title = {{The effect of resting tongue pressure, lip-cheek pressure, and interdental force on mandibular arch collapse and mesial molar drift: A preliminary 3D finite element study}},
author = {Elaine C. Boosalis Toaddy and Steven D. Marshall and Emma Mueldener and James C. Thomas and Kendra Bogert-Baird and Thomas E. Southard and Kyungsup Shin},
journal = {PLOS One},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0353500},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0353500},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - The effect of resting tongue pressure, lip-cheek pressure, and interdental force on mandibular arch collapse and mesial molar drift: A preliminary 3D finite element study
AU - Elaine C. Boosalis Toaddy
AU - Steven D. Marshall
AU - Emma Mueldener
AU - James C. Thomas
AU - Kendra Bogert-Baird
AU - Thomas E. Southard
AU - Kyungsup Shin
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/08
JO - PLOS One
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0353500
UR - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0353500
AB - Relapse of aligned mandibular anterior teeth and the progressive collapse of the mandibular anterior arch are historically significant problems for orthodontists. The etiology of this collapse, and the cause of mesial molar drift, are unknown. However, light continuous (quasi-continuous) intra-oral pressures and forces applied to the mandibular dentition have been implicated. To explore this further, we use three-dimensional finite element analysis to investigate the influence of these intra-oral loads (tongue pressure, lip-cheek pressure, and interdental force) on macroscopic teeth displacement patterns, specifically mandibular incisor crowding, mesial mandibular molar drift, and mandibular arch collapse. Dentitions of three-dimensional finite element mandibular models were subjected to a wide range of simulated tongue pressures, lip-cheek pressures, and transseptal fiber-mediated interdental forces reported in the literature. Resulting crown displacement measurements from these isolated loads were made along with measurements resulting from simultaneous combined application of literature-defined mean tongue pressure, lip-cheek pressure, and interdental force. Our results indicate that tongue pressure alone results in generalized arch expansion and tooth spacing while lip-cheek pressure and interdental force result in generalized arch collapse, anterior crowding, and mesial molar displacement. Simultaneous application of tongue pressure, lip-cheek pressure, and interdental force mean values, as would occur in vivo, results in incisor crowding, intercanine width reduction, and mesial molar displacement. Our results suggest mandibular anterior arch collapse (incisor crowding / intercanine width reduction), and mesial molar displacement result from simultaneous application of simulated tongue pressure, lip-cheek pressure, and interdental force.
SN - 1932-6203
ER -