Fractals in restorative treatment of teeth
JM González-González · Journal of Oral Rehabilitation · 1997
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.