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|Definition of Occlusion|
In Dictionary, it is defined as the act of closure. In Dentistry, it is defined as the contact relationship between teeth. It comprises also the multi-factorial functional relations between teeth and other components of the masticatory system (Teeth, investing structures, Jaws, TMJ, and Muscles of mastication).
Important Guidelines:
- All parts of the masticatory system act in harmony and what affects one part will eventually affect all other parts of the masticatory system. Examples: Carious tooth or premature contact affects the whole masticatory system. Bruxism causes excessive wear of teeth. Mobility due to alveolar bone resorption decreases functional performance of mastication. Dental problems are progressive and Deterioration of the whole system will eventually occur if problems are left untreated in a reasonable time frame Careful diagnosis is necessary by complete examination of the masticatory system to identify the causes and the effects of any disharmony and to establish definitive goals and assess the prognosis of any required interference by treatment since the ultimate objective is optimum oral health of the patient
Application of basic goals of complete dentistry in diagnosis & treatment of occlusion problems
Optimum Oral Health It is required to obtain highest functional performance of dentition
- Deterioration of oral health requires thorough diagnosis & treatment planning to achieve 2 major objectives: 1. Finding the causes of deterioration. 2. Determining the best method to eliminate each cause of deterioration. - Degree of success of treatment depends on the degree of elimination of causes of deterioration. ( Keep in mind that Total Elimination is not always possible)
|Considerations|
Causes of deterioration usually come multiple. The same causative insult can produce variety of responses in different individuals due to: - Difference in host resistance - Different intensity of insult - Different duration of insult Similar symptoms may result from completely different causes. Symptomatic relief without identifying the cause is considered an insufficient poor type therapy. Confusion about the cause effect relationship is mostly due to failure to distinguish between Causative factors & Contributing factors
Contributing factors
Does not by itself cause disease, but it either lowers resistance of the host to a causative factor or increases intensity of function or stress. The treatment plan should be directed primarily therapy to remove the direct causative factor while increasing host resistance & decreasing intensity of stress should be the adjunctive therapy.
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It provides quantitative and qualitative analysis of occlusion. The articulating carbon paper provides only quantitative. It is composed of an automated silver sensor 60 microns in thickness. It is disposable and inexpensive. It is painted from both surfaces with conductive ink to constitute more than 1500 sensing points. The patient bites on the sensor which delivers data of occlusion to the computer monitor in terms of (2 dimensional) or (3 dimensional) location of the contact. It also delivers the timing of each position contact together with the force at a specific site. The computer shows a movie on the monitor to simulate patient occlusion and it can be adjusted to display the movie frame by frame.
Carbon papers
Take long time to analyze occlusion (20 minutes) Leave ink marks on teeth which requires an experienced operator to analyze it Some marks represent contacts while others represent smudge marks
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Causative factors
Microorganisms i.e.: Caries. - Bacteria are present in plaque. - The bacteria and its metabolites cause either caries or periodontal disease. - The effect is variable from individual to another and even in the same individual from time to time or from tooth to another tooth especially when it is combined with increased stress. - Moreover, absence of stress doesnt mean necessarily absence of periodontal disease since severe periodontal disease can occur in a case of occlusal perfection. This clarifies the importance of the effect of plaque as a causative factor. - Controlling the causative factors should comprise both plaque control and occlusal therapy and a time lapse for the control to achieve the results of therapy. Stress i.e.: Wear and tear. - Increase magnitude or unfavorable direction of stress can result in: 1. Hyper mobility of teeth. 2. Excessive wear. 3. Hypersensitivity. 4. Masticatory muscle problems. 5. TMJ disorders. 6. Periodontal breakdown. 7. Development of abnormal chewing habits. 8. Fracture of cusp or tooth splitting.
Control of stress by occlusal adjustment and correct alignment of teeth is very important to achieve the major goal which is reduction of stress on teeth during various movements of the mandible (i.e. elimination of occlusal interferences during mandibular functional movements). The functional movements are determined by: 1. The anatomic limits of movement: articulating surfaces of TMJ and ligament capacity. 2. The physiologic action of the muscles as they move the mandible up to the limits of muscular action. Any interference of teeth during either articular or muscular limits should be corrected, otherwise, deterimental stresses arise. The muscular activity may also be limited by occlusal interference since it will move the mandible only to make the teeth fit in occlusion by displacing it.
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Second outcome
Conflict about what constitutes the correct position and alignment of the condyle disk assembly.
- In case of occlusal interference, one or more points at the tooth surface interferes with the physiologic functional pattern of the condyle disk assembly stress proprioceptive sensors around the tooth will send afferent impulses to brain to come back with efferent impulses to muscles to move the mandible to a convenient position to brace the condyles on the slopes of eminences to slightly open the mouth and relieve the stress. This limiting action of the muscle to embrace the condyles acts instead of the limiting action of the bone and ligament. - Although the bone and ligament do not feel fatigue, the muscular action will make the muscle feel fatigued with symptoms of spasm, stretch reflex contraction of the antagonistic muscle on the other side with spasm of musculature of whole neck and shoulder, pain, earache & headache. (A high percentage of patients with headache is simply because of minute occlusal interference)
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Relation between Stress due to occlusal Trauma and periodontal status of the tooth
Despite the extreme mobility patterns caused by traumatogenic occlusion, no evidence that occlusal Trauma can cause an increase in pocket depth unless there is local factors and gingival inflammation . (If no inflammation or loss of osseous walls, a severely mobile tooth will be rendered firm by correcting its occlusion). Lindhe J & Nyman S IN 1972 concluded that occlusal Trauma even of the jiggling type in a tooth with reduced periodontal support will not cause deterioration of support if plaque control and pocket cleaning methods are performed. The combination of plaque induced Periodontitis and occlusal Trauma causes progressive loss of periodontal support compared to teeth without occlusal trauma.
|VIP| The reason why teeth in hyper function become loose is due to pressure which causes hemorrhage and thrombosis and destruction of collagen fiber attachment. Excessive pressure renders the fibroblasts into Osteoclasts causing bone resorption proportional to the intensity and direction of the applied pressure. In other words, the resorption pattern in case of occlusal trauma is different from that caused by periodontal inflammation. - If the occlusion is corrected before periodontal inflammation the loose tooth due to stress resorption pattern will be rendered firm and osteoblastic activity dominates. - If correction is delayed resorption pattern will change to an inflammatory pattern and major periodontal treatment will be required together with occlusal Correction. - If correction is Too long delayed Poor prognosis. - Both correction of occlusal and periodontal treatment are essential to produce optimum maintainable oral health.
Anatomic and Form harmony (Anatomic and form harmony and alignment of):
Teeth Muscles of mastication & musculature of lips, cheeks and tongue Temporomandibular articulation
Each tooth form is designed for certain functions Improper form or misalignment of teeth drives the masticatory system to adaptation. Adaptation creates stresses & enhances wear. Normally, Incisors receive (35-50 psi), Canine (47-100 psi), premolar (80-150 psi) & molar (127-250 psi) Incorrect alignment creates detrimental stresses in magnitude and direction
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Lip and cheek musculature affects alignment and may cause disharmony of esthetics and function
|Facts|
The Purpose of a Joint is to allow two or More Bones to move in Relation to Each Other. The Purpose of Ligaments is to Limit the Movement of a Joint within the functional range of muscles , therefore, joints Function within the Limits of the Ligaments.
TMJ articulation should possess correct relations and act in harmony with teeth contacts during functional movements and with the functional limits of mandibular movements by the muscular action. This anatomic and form harmony predisposes to functional harmony.
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Functional Harmony
Each part of the masticatory apparatus has certain functions and share with other parts to perform certain functions: E.g. Teeth main function is mastication but it shares in speech. Functions of masticatory system include: (Drinking, Swallowing, Sucking, Breathing, Smiling, Kissing, Licking, Spitting, and Speech.) - All parts of the masticatory system like lips, tongue, cheeks, bone, joints & muscles have highly organized relationship to each other and to the teeth during functions. - Functional disharmony means disturbance of this organized relationship. - For proper management we should not only deal with manifestations of disharmony but we need to recognize and treat the cause to avoid undue or insufficient treatment or relapse. Functional disharmony usually causes a chain reaction in the masticatory system that affects all elements and ends in more dysfunction and disharmony. |E.g.| Patient with enlarged adenoids finds difficulty in breathing open mouth and tongue thrust to give airway pressure of tongue exceeds lip forward movement of upper anterior teeth Lower lip finds a place behind upper anterior teeth causing more pressure on forwarded teeth to move more forwards and causes backwards pressure on lower anterior teeth to crowd lingualy. |Treatment| Should involve removal of the cause and stop of tongue thrust to realign the teeth.
Besides the clinical examination, analysis of the case with mounted study casts is essential. Face bow record to orient the maxilla to the condylar axis and jaw relation records are essential to mount the lower jaw on an adjustable articulator.
Mounted casts are essential to analyze the extent of teeth involvement in the process of functional disharmony.
The functional harmony means a peaceful neuromusculr, articular and dental relations during all the possible functions of the masticatory system. This will enable the system to function on demands to its anatomic limits without interferences.
Occlusal Stability:
The Essence of Anatomic and Functional harmony is BALANCE: It is a centered relationship between equal opposite forces. Many examples explain the concept of balance in the human body - Osmotic balance between intracellular and extracellular fluids. - Nervous system balance between sympathetic and parasympathetic.
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|Fact| The body responds to antagonistic forces in a dynamic way until the opposing forces are equalized. Teeth will not stay stable where muscles do not want them to be (Neutral Zone). Understanding the concept of balance will enable the operator to recognize why, how and when each part of the masticatory system is either in peaceful balance or stressful disharmony.
Balance exists for teeth relations, muscular relations and TMJ relations to attain occlusal stability Class I relation is not necessarily a stable occlusion, teeth alignment change horizontally and vertically by the forces acting against them until they remain stable when these forces are in equilibrium.
Stability of horizontal alignment of teeth is governed by the equilibrium of forces acting from inside (tongue) and the forces acting from outside (orbicularis oris and buccinator ) to locate the teeth in the neutral zone. Stability of vertical alignment is governed by the equilibrium between the eruptive forces of the antagonistic teeth and the equilibrium between the action of the mandibular elevator and depressor muscles.
The point of balance between the opposing forces vertically is the occlusal plane. The indiscriminate use of bite plane can cause disruption of an existing harmony and equilibrium. The anteroposterior balance of the mandible is determined by the harmonious function of the lateral pterygoid muscle versus the fibers of temporalis to position the condyle in the various functional positions at the slope of the eminence simultaneously during action. The disk position is balanced between the opposing forces of the elastic fibers behind the disk and the superior belly of the lateral pterygoid muscle in front . |VIP| Understanding the concept of balance in all aspects of the entire masticatory system together with the anatomic and functional harmony will enable the operator to judge the best way to restore a maintainable health of the masticatory system = concept of Complete Dentistry. |Avoid| Empiric approaches, unnecessary interference, gimmickry procedures and overtreatment . Explaining the treatment rationale to the patient, tell the patient that in order to make and keep his mouth healthy two things must be accomplished by the operator: We must have no place in the mouth which is not completely cleanable Tell the patient that his responsibility is - To keep his mouth clean - To report any uneven stress - To maintain general health (diet & exercise) We must reduce all stresses to be non destructive
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