The application of occlusion in clinical practice part 1: Essential concepts in clinical occlusion

According to The Glossary of Prosthodontic Terms 9th edn, the term ‘occlusion’ has been defined as: ‘1. the act or process of closure or of being closed or shut off; 2. the static relationship between the incising or masticating surfaces of the maxillary or mandibular teeth or tooth analogues.’¹ However, given that the masticatory system includes anatomical components beyond the occluding surfaces, an alternative definition has been proposed that describes occlusion as ‘an integral (but not necessarily central) part within the stomato-gnathic system (SGS) that relates teeth, not only to other teeth but, importantly, to the other components of the SGS during normal function, parafunction and dysfunction’.² Accordingly, the SGS includes the temporomandibular joints, muscles of mastication, the periodontium along with the mandibular and maxillary teeth. Indeed, it is common to refer to the articulation of the teeth as the anterior determinants of mandibular movement and the temporomandibular joints and associated structures as the posterior determinants.³