Occlusal Corrections Research Articles

Temporomandibular joint disorders

Twenty patients suffering from disorders of the temporomandibular joint were treated by correcting their occlusions; this involved the reduction of cuspal inclines that were causing mandibular displacements. All 20 patients received complete relief, generally within 24 to 48 hours. Occlusal corrections were made only in the centric position. A new procedure for the analysis and correction of traumatic occlusion utilizes a check-bite made of white alginate; interfering cusps are located by a study of the perforations in the check-bite.

Theory of centric correction in natural teeth

A theoretic concept of centric occlusal correction in natural teeth by stoning or grinding them is made in light of recent nomenclature standardization. Suggestions for two additional terms, one for jaw-to-jaw relation, called “procentric relation,” and one for tooth-to-tooth relation, called “retrocentric occlusion,” are made. A plea is made for treating the combined jaw-to-jaw and tooth-to-tooth positional relationship called the median contact position as a point of reference in the occlusal adjustment of natural teeth. This is a position of the jaws in procentric relation and the teeth in centric occlusion and is an inviolate position in stoning for occlusal corrections. The dentist is admonished to preserve at least point-to-“sections-of-a-sphere” contacts between all opposing natural teeth during the occlusal adjustment in this combined jaw-to-jaw and tooth-to-tooth relationship.

Function, Prime Object of Restorative Dentistry; A Definite Procedure to Obtain it

It has been emphasized for many years that the whole dental apparatus should be recognized as a complex chewing machine, an organ of mastication and digestion which performs a definite di­ gestive function. The primary aim o f den­ tistry is to establish and maintain proper function of this organ. Accordingly the study of occlusion and articulation of teeth must be considered one of the most important sciences in dentistry. There is a need for a more biological approach to restorative dentistry. O c­ clusal disharmonies and other functional disturbances of the bite should be recog­ nized and diagnosed routinely, in order to institute a treatment producing a well functioning bite. The factors constituting the complete masticatory organ, which include the cheeks, lips, tongue, single teeth, the rows of teeth, the mucous membranes, all periodontal structures, jaws, muscles, ligaments and temporo­ mandibular joints, are, during function, stimulated most favorably when they are in a specific harmonious mutual relation, or physiological equilibrium. Three therapeutic methods to achieve this relation are ( 1 ) orthodontic meas­ ures, ( 2 ) restorative dentistry and pros­ thetic measures and (3) incisal and oc­ clusal selective grinding. These methods are not sharply defined but often overlap. In adult patients the latter two are the most frequently applicable. If occlusal corrections, either by grind­ ing or by restorative dentistry, are to be made in order to establish better func­ tion, certain fundamentals must be con­ sidered. These fundamentals are appli­ cable in artificial, natural and mixed dentitions.