Abstract
When a dentist diagnoses a patient with a chief complain of a jaw problem as occlusal dysfunction, they further have to make a differential diagnosis as to determine whether the cause is related to occlusion or not. In case they diagnose the case as occlusion-derived, they have to find a way to attune occlusion with the patient’s stomatognathic system. In the present report is discussed a patient with a chief complaint of a prolonged unconformity in the jaw and dysfunction. In this case the repeated chippage or break of prostheses was due to the overly raised bite level and the resultant malfunction of the stomatognathic system; hence, decreasing the occlusal vertical is needed. In contrary to the popularity of procedures for increasing occlusal vertical dimension, having trouble in finding a protocol for decreasing occlusal vertical dimension, I arbitrarily selected a bite raising procedure based on an article, reversed its order, and set five criteria for evaluation. Based on the treatment plan, I evaluated each procedure according to the aforementioned criteria. The treatment led to an appropriate occlusal position and established stability in mandibular movement and the condyle position. Further, the stomatognathic system became physiologically sound, and most importantly the patient was satisfied with the result.
