Rehabilitation of the Worn Dentition

Patients often seek rehabilitative treatment for severely worn dentition. The etiology of noncarious tooth wear due to attrition, abrasion, and erosion is multifactorial. To treat the worn dentition, it is important to identify and eliminate and/or control the factors that contribute to excessive wear. Many situations requiring complete mouth rehabilitation present with the challenge of a lack of restorative space. To establish a correct occlusal plane and space for prostheses, it is necessary to increase vertical dimension. This may require an increase in occlusal vertical dimension. Also clinicians should be able to choose the appropriate restorative materials to achieve excellence in natural esthetics as well as proper biomechanics and durability. This article presents a method for altering occlusal vertical dimension to restore dentitions with limited restorative space due to loss of tooth structure.