Methods of evaluation of occlusal contacts in orthodontic patients – review of literature

Introduction. The assessment of occlusal contacts
before and after orthodontic treatment is important in
the light of the evaluation of the therapeutic effects.
Functional stability is ensured, first and foremost, by
good intercuspation, with many, properly localized
occlusal contacts. Aim of the study. To present
methods of registration and evaluation of occlusal
contacts and to summarize conclusions from the
literature on the analysis of occlusal contacts in an
orthodontic patient. Material and methods. PubMed,
EBSCOhost, Science Direct and Google Scholar were
searched for the literature of the subject by entering
the following keywords: occlusal contacts analysis,
occlusal contacts orthodontic treatment, occlusion
indicators, occlusion recording materials. Thirty-three
articles were analyzed. Results. For the registration of
occlusal contacts, qualitative methods (wax, silicone,
an articulating paper, a foil, a silk strip) as well as
quantitative ones (photoocclusion technique, T-scan)
are used. It is important to use simple and reliable
methods of recording the results of occlusion tests
to assess the changes that occur. Two-dimensional
methods (e.g. description, photo, scheme or computer
drawing) or three-dimensional ones (e.g. virtual
models) may be mentioned. In the retention phase,
there is a dynamic change in occlusal contacts.
There is a significant increase in the number of ideal
occlusal contacts, but the number of incorrectly
located contacts is also increasing. Therefore, it is
believed that settling should take place in the last
phase of active orthodontic treatment. Evaluation of the number and location of occlusal contacts may be
the most important predictor of occlusion stability
and may be helpful in explaining the relapse, should
this happen in the future. Conclusion. The evaluation
of occlusal contacts, although very important, is
not commonly used in orthodontic practice. There
is no “gold standard” for marking, recording and
evaluation of occlusal contacts.