Elastic modulus of the periodontal ligament.

This study used a two-dimensional finite element mesh of a lower first premolar to model two different tooth loading systems which measured either the vertical or the horizontal displacements of this particular tooth. The elastic modulus of the periodontal ligament was varied in the finite element model until the horizontal and vertical displacements of the model correlated with the two experimental systems. It was found that an elastic modulus of 50 MPa gave good correlation between the finite element model and the experimental systems.