Influence of axial forces on occlusal contact

Abstract

We inverstigated the influence of axial forces on occlusal contact by measuring the contact area of 7 volunters. A variety of forces, maximum clenching for 1 minute and medium clenching for 1 and 5 minutes were applied to the mandibular first molars as the axial force. With maximum clenching for 1 minute and medium clenching for 5 minutes, the occlusal contact area decreased significantly after application of the force. However, there was no change in occlusal contact area with medium clenching for 1 minute. These findings suggest that occlusal forces are very important when doing occlusal examination.