March 14, 2007, Beverly Hills and Los Angeles - Your back teeth take a tremendous beating every time you chew. Normal chewing places roughly 70-pounds per-square-inch of pressure on your molars.
Yet, changes in the patient's dental occlusion are the most frequently overlooked portion of a clinical exam. An occlusion refers to how the teeth come together when your jaw is closed. Several factors impact your bite, including your:
• teeth
• nerves and muscles
• bones
• posture
Keep in mind that, when you tilt your head back or lay on your side, your teeth will bite differently than when tilted to the front.
DEFINING OCCLUSION
Centric Occlusion refers to the normal position in which your teeth close when you bite. The perfect occlusion is when there is no cross bite, under bite or over bite.
PROBLEM OCCLUSION INDICATORS
There are several signs you are experiencing bite problems.
• Front teeth don't touch
• Receding gums
• Heavy wear on the bite surface
• Cracked or fractured teeth
• Pain in the muscles and joints of the jaw
• Erosion, or notching, of the root surfaces
• Grinding or clenching the teeth
CANINE GUIDANCE
In an ideal bite, your posterior teeth don't touch when your lower jaw slides to one side from the centric occlusion. You'll note the lower canines, or eye teeth, ride up on the upper canines in this position. This is referred to as Canine Guidance, or a canine-protected occlusion.
This occlusion is important in cases where:
• the teeth are excessively worn down;
• gums have receded;
• roots are eroded; or
• you suffer from TMJ ( temporomandibular dysfunction ).
BRAIN TO MUSCLES.EASE UP!
When canines touch, your nerves send a message to the brain, which forwards it to the large muscles that close your jaw. This message tells your muscles to ease up on the strength used to bite.
BRUXISM
Your muscles remain active if this canine protection is removed. Known as bruxism, it can lead to:
• teeth clenching and grinding;
• fracturing of the teeth;
• joint pain;
• excessive wear on the enamel at the top of the tooth;
• erosion of the root surface, or abfractions; and
• gum recession.
When teeth line up properly, all the components of this biting system function in harmony. However, if you clench your teeth, you increase that force up to 140 pounds-per-square-inch of force. Night clenching and grinding places even more stress, up to 1,200 pounds-per-square-inch.
ANTERIOR GUIDANCE
A normal bite is one in which the front teeth guide the back teeth into the proper position. This anterior-guidance system ensures the posterior teeth don't touch when placed together on their biting edges.
The above listed problems occur when the posterior teeth touch in this position.
When the front teeth don't touch at all, the patient has an anterior open bite or an overbite. This is caused by a skeletal error between the upper and lower jaw bones.
VERTICAL DIMENSION
Another factor to consider is vertical dimension. When a person without teeth looks as though their face has collapsed, they have lost vertical dimension. This can be caused by both excessive wear of the front teeth or loss of the entire tooth.
Very steep overbites can be improved by opening this vertical dimension, or building up the height of the posterior teeth.
LEARN MORE
Call top cosmetic dentist Dr. Anthony Mobasser today at 1.310.550.0383 or email us to schedule an appointment and learn more about treatments for dental occlusion.
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