2018 Volume 10 Issue 4 Pages 327-334
Purpose: When a dentist gives instruction on occlusion to patients, the way the patient receives the instruction differs among individuals, and the occlusal condition desired by the dentist cannot be reproduced in some cases. The purpose of this study was to compare occlusal force and occlusal contact area for three kinds of instruction on occlusion.
Methods: Thirty subjects with normal dentition were instructed to bite in three ways such as “Please close your mouth”, “Please bite” and “Please bite tightly”. The occlusal force and occlusal contact area were measured for each instruction and examined.
Results: Occlusal force increased significantly in the order of “close your mouth”, “bite” and “bite tightly”. The occlusal force when instructed to “bite” was approximately twice that when instructed to “close your mouth”, and the force when instructed to “bite tightly” was about 4 to 5 times that when instructed to “close your mouth”. Occlusal force in the male group was greater than that in the female group for all occlusal instructions. Occlusal contact area also increased significantly in the order of “close your mouth”, “bite” and “bite tightly”. The occlusal contact area when instructed to “bite” was approximately twice that when instructed to “close your mouth”, and the area when instructed to “bite tightly” was approximately 3 times that when instructed to “close your mouth”.
Conclusions: In this study, subjects understood the nuances of the words used by the dentists in giving occlusion instructions, but it turned out that the interpretation of how much bite force is needed differed among the individuals.
