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Fractals in restorative treatment of teeth
Author(s) -
GONZALEZGONZALEZ J.M.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
journal of oral rehabilitation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.991
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1365-2842
pISSN - 0305-182X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2842.1997.tb00260.x
Subject(s) - fractal , chaotic , dentistry , orthodontics , medicine , mathematics , computer science , mathematical analysis , artificial intelligence
summary Previous studies support the view that the oral medium is a dynamic system composed of several elements, among which are restorations in teeth. The author believes that the evolution in time of a restoration can be non‐lineal and that it has an irregular and chaotic behaviour. To investigate the theory, the author studied, between 1991 and 1994, on their first visit to a dental clinic in Salamanca, the restorations of 583 patients of both sexes. The group results were distributed throughout three age ranges, i.e. 16‐65, 26‐55 and 36‐45. In each group the total number of fillings in situ in each tooth was recorded using the method ‘Expansion‐Contraction Systems’. The results show that the restorative treatment of teeth using fillings follows a non‐lineal dynamic of chaotic behaviour and irregular geometry, which suggests it is a fractal.