Learn dental occlusion

The way in which the teeth meet is called occlusion and the people who attribute to themselves the philosophy of measuring and recording the movement of the mandible, which essentially leads to the development of dental occlusion, were called Gnathologists. The structures involved in the occlusion are the temporomandibular joint, the teeth, the mastication muscles, the nerves that control the muscles, the adjustment and feedback systems, and the position of the head.

Building the occlusion is not a logical, intuitive, obvious, banal, automatic action, or thinking that it is enough to put the dental surfaces in contact, taking care to prevent them from bothering each other, that they do not touch before others. To learn and know the occlusion is very important. It is impossible to treat the occlusion in a few pages and even will not be enough some days.

The dentist must know the occlusion not only to construct prostheses but also to correctly perform conservative treatments. The prosthodontist is the dentist. The dental technician is not the prosthodontist. The technician is a performer, who realizes what the dentist asks him and with the means that the dentist gives him. The dentist must provide the dental technician with the information and means he needs to create correct prostheses.

Only if there is an agreement between the dentist and dental technician, no one will have problems, and above all the patient will not have them. Have you wondered why fillings break, why ceramics chip, why implants break or move, why full dentures move, why they create enormous pain and injuries? It is always the fault of the wrong occlusion. We are the cause of these events, it is not a material defect or an error by the dental technician. For some time there has been talking of temporomandibular dysfunctions, and courses on temporomandibular dysfunctions are organized. But temporomandibular dysfunction is not a contagious infectious disease. The cause is always the wrong occlusion.

The temporomandibular joint is an unloaded joint. When the teeth are in maximum intercuspation position, the joint is in a suspended position, three-dimensionally suspended, and it is asymmetrical. The function of the joints is not to load the teeth, rather it is a function of the teeth that unloads the joints. The teeth stop the closure and determine the final position of the joint. Many dentists think that the normal condition is the centric relation position. McCollum, the father of gnathology, stated that when this condition does not exist, patients suffer of periodontal disease. Now we know this is not true. The normal condition is that when a patient has a centric occlusion, he also has a centric relation. The centric relation is normal, but the teeth do not come in contact all together in the centric relation. The teeth come in contact all together in centric occlusion. When we make coincide the centric occlusion with the centric relation, then we create an occlusion in centric relation. But this is an abnormal position of physiological stop point, it is a prosthetic invention. We have created this.

There are five physiological factors that link dental contacts with the temporomandibular joint. We often talk about face bow, but few dentists know what it is for, when it is to be used, and when it is of no value. We talk about articulators, we discuss their usefulness, which is the best, but few dentists know when they can be used and when they are of no value. Few dentists know the meaning of the hinge axis and its importance in avoiding errors in the use of articulators. This book concerns these concepts extensively, explains the severity of prematurity contacts, both on the working side and, even more so, on the non-working side.

Occlusion has enormous importance, it does not only affect the prosthesis but concerns and involves all dentistry. Occlusion is where all disciplines meet, it is the central part of dentistry.

This book will clarify many doubts and will answer many questions, it will allow you to understand occlusion, the physiology, and dental restoration.