Dental tribology: a systems approach

Abstract

Purpose: This article presents the new system approach for the biotribological description of the stomatognathic system, with particular emphasis on one of its subsystems, the dental organ. Methods: The peculiarity of the dental organ is emphasised, associated with a specific autonomic environment, next to the external environment, resulting from the impact of the organism on the dental organ. The autonomic environment increases the number of relations between elements in the dental organ and hinders its examination. Results: The characteristics of the dental organ are described. Its main elements, their properties, and the relationships between them are identified, and the system’s functions, inputs and outputs are presented. The systems approach addresses these difficulties, enabling the analysis of the dental organ and its tribological characteristics. Conclusions: The dental organ has an “autonomic” environment, which significantly increases the number of tribological relationships and complicates their analysis. Knowledge of the tribological attributes of the dental organ can be useful in studying detailed aspects of the function of the dental organ. The specific features of the analysed system and the uniqueness of its structure necessitate the use of appropriate methodology for testing the tribological properties.