Mechanical loads exerted by different configurations of Burstone’s 3-piece segmented mechanics during a simulated intrusion of the mandibular incisors

Burstone's segmented intrusion arch technique allows variable incisor intrusion with lingual or labial tipping, depending on the position and direction of the force vectors exerted by the intrusion springs. To date, systematic biomechanical studies are lacking. This in vitro study aimed to determine the 3-dimensional force-moment systems applied to the 4 mandibular incisors and the deactivation behavior of the appliance by different configurations of the 3-piece intrusion mechanics.The experimental setup consisted of a mandibular model segmented into 2 buccal and 1 anterior segment mounted on a 6-axis Hexapod to simulate different incisor segment malpositions. Active elements were bilateral 0.017 × 0.025-in titanium-molybdenum alloy intrusion springs. Nine geometric appliance configurations at different superpositions of the anterior segment between 4 and 0 mm were evaluated.For 3-mm incisor superposition, mesiodistal variation of the contact of the intrusion spring at the anterior segment wire resulted in labial tipping moments between -0.11 and -1.6 Nmm. Variation of the height of force application at the anterior segment showed no significant influence on the tipping moments. During the simulated intrusion of the anterior segment, a force reduction rate of 21% per mm intrusion was observed.This study contributes to a more detailed and systematic understanding of the 3-piece intrusion mechanics and confirms the simplicity and predictability of the 3-piece intrusion. According to the measured reduction rate, the intrusion springs should be activated once every 2 months or 1-mm intrusion.