tips and tricks

When making an occlusal splint, we need to provide the lab with an upper and lower impression (digital or analogue) and a bite registration. One arch record is used to make the appliance, the opposing is used to gain the correct occlusion and the bite record is used to mount the models so that the occlusion can be adjusted. The most common bite record that I see taken by my colleagues is either a bite registration in maximum intercuspal position or no bite record at all. This can work out sometimes but from my perspective it is not an accurate bite for splint construction. Essentially, I see a splint as a removeable tool to reestablish the patient's occlusion at an open vertical dimension. When the patient wears a splint, their vertical dimension is opened, and the teeth should ideally contact evenly all around the splint and dynamic movements should be controlled as well. This is what we are aiming for with tooth-tooth occlusion as well. Therefore, the bite records for a splint sh...

Occlusion can be studied to try and improve success or reduce failures. Occlusion isn't a goal but it is a tool that we can use to achieve our goal. Everything fails if given enough time but we are aiming to slow the progress of this down so that the failure occurs as far away as possible. Patients need to understand this risk before agreeing to any treatment. Dental materials excepting fracture from trauma tend to break after repeated cyclic fatigue. The management of occlusion aims to reduce the force on teeth and restorations to reduce cyclic fatigue failure. This aim is independent of the materials used. Be it LiSi, zirconia, gold, base metal, composite, amalgam, enamel or dentine they will all fail if loaded enough for enough time. Materials that claim extrordinary strength such as some zirconias have the trade off of being very brittle. On the other hand, materials that are softer such as gold will burnish under high load, adapt to the conditions and therefore is less likel...