Application of Bragg grating sensors in dental biomechanics

This paper describes the use of fibre Bragg grating (FBG) sensors to measure strains at a mandible surface that are caused by static or impact loads on a dental implant. The measuring apparatus uses a fixed optical filter reference scheme and is able to detect dynamic signals with frequency components of up to 10 kHz. A dried implanted cadaveric mandible was used with strain gauges and FBG sensors placed at the outer surface in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the implant. The implants were loaded statically and dynamically and uniaxial strains recorded. The study demonstrates the ability of the FBG as a biomechanical sensor.