Methods: Plaster teeth were scanned rotary and from a single plane using LPX-1200 Picza Laser Scanner (Roland DG Corporation, Japan). The point clouds from the teeth surfaces were used to extrapolate the shape of the object, in order to create continuous surfaces by reconstruction. The collected data were used to construct three dimensional models using Rhinoceros (McNeel North America) NURBS (Nonuniform Rational B-Splines) modeling program. These solids were used as a support for further modeling of prosthetic restorations (inlays, onlays, dental clasps). Resulted objects were exported in ANSYS finite element analysis software (Ansys Inc., Philadelphia, USA), to be used for structural simulations.
Results: Generated stresses were calculated numerically and plotted graphically. Results were displayed as colored stress contour plots to identify regions of different stress concentrations. The finite element method allowed the calculation of the stresses, through equivalent stress and of the flexibility through calculation of the displacements.
Conclusions: This in vitro study demonstrated that structural analysis of dental restorations may offer a powerful tool in selection of an adequate design according to each clinical case. (ID_1264).