Early Prevention of Occlusal Disorders of Dental Arches

Abstract. Occlusion is the joining of dental arches or individual groups of teeth over longer or shorter periods of time. Dental caries is one of the main factors of occlusal disorders. In economically developed countries, it affects 95-98% of the population. Dental caries results in changing location of occlusal contact points and is the cause of atypical mandibular movements. As a result, occlusal overloading and trauma are observed. The objective of the research was to carry out early prevention of occlusal disorders in patients with carious lesions using modern restorative methods. Materials and Methods. There were examined 90 first-/second-/third-year students of the Ivano-Frankivsk National Medical University at the age of 17-20 years living in the regions with low fluoride level in order to prevent occlusal disorders using the methods of restorations of the affected occlusal surfaces considering functional anatomy and subsequent checking of occlusal relationships with the help of the T-Scan Novus occlusal analysis system. Among them, 45 students were diagnosed with fissure caries of the first molars, 45 students underwent the restoration of the first molars without considering functional anatomy. Treatment was carried out by the methods of direct and indirect restorations. Results. The paper contains the results of redistribution of occlusal contacts in carious lesions of the first molar (decrease in the occlusal load on the affected tooth, occurrence of overloading on the tooth with larger chewing area) and restoration of the first molar without considering the principles of functional anatomy (bite force directly on the tooth restored). Further restorations of the chewing surfaces of the first molars considering the occlusal determinants led to an even distribution of the occlusal force on the molars. Conclusions. The results of our study demonstrated the effectiveness of the developed treatment and prevention complex.