The BiteFX Blog for All Things Relating to Occlusion

Firstly my apologies to those who read my first post on this subject "Do You Measure Where the Condyle Goes from Centric Relation?" as it has taken much longer than I intended to write this follow-up post on the calculations I've put together.

I was recently sent a link to a preview of an occlusion and bite force course put together by Dr. Spear. He makes good use of one of the BiteFX animations to explain when the TMJ disc can and cannot be loaded. If you'd like to see it, it's at:

Here’s an interesting article written for Dentistry Today last year (2010). It presents the three golden rules of occlusion – rules that are accepted by all parties whatever their particular occlusal slant may be. This is a great article for anyone wanting to cut through the confusion and establish a basic understanding of occlusion;  an understanding that they can start putting into practice almost immediately.

We were exhibiting at the International Academy of Gnathology meeting last week so I had the opportunity to sit in on some of the very interesting presentations they had on their program. One of the presentations in particular has set me thinking so I thought I’d share its challenge on our blog. It was given by Dr. Tom Basta, one of the directors of the Foundation for Advanced Continuing Education and titled “Occlusion – Myths & Realities”.

The article "Seeing is Believing" is one that Glidewell published a few years back shortly after we released BiteFX and which we use with their permission.

It presents a study of a case handled by Don (Dr. Reid, my partner in creating BiteFX) in which he describes how he identified occlusal disease in a patient, explained the problem to the patient and went on to restore the patient's mouth taking you through the treatment plan, implant placement, use of temporaries and final restoration.

We're in animation production mode right now so are busy working on satisfying many of the requests that BiteFX users have been requesting.

We always welcome your suggestions as you know best what will make a difference to your practice. Use the comment box below this post to describe what you'd like to see or to add comments on the suggestions of others.

(Taken from a BiteFX forum post by Fred Peck DDS)

When the hygienist is charting pocket depth, tooth mobility should also be recorded. Explain to the patient what the tooth mobility means and that you will show them a visual animation at the end of the appointment. Upon completion of the visit, have your hygienist show the patient the BiteFX animation showing tooth mobility.

(BiteFX Forum Article posted by Suzan Bekolay of Click Coaching)

In working with only joint based occlusion practices for a very long time, I'm a raving fan of BiteFX - a sophisticated replacement for the Denar tutor I have frequently seen collecting dust on many a doctor's shelf.  I've encouraged the use of BiteFX in ways beyond the case presentation and teaching staff; strongly agreeing with other forum posts there is

(BiteFX Forum Article posted by Suzan Bekolay of Click Coaching)

3.    Hygienists trigger movement

Understandably reluctant to press, sell or strong arm, hygienists struggle with what to do.  He/she can trigger conversation and change with BiteFX and let BiteFX do the talking.  EG: She observes cracks.  (It's especially helpful if interferences are charted so she can see the correlation quickly.) She/he captures an image of the crack, the