Dental/ Oral Health Los Angeles

Your oral health is more important than you might realize. Get the facts about how the health of your mouth, teeth and gums can affect your general health from Dr. A. J. Boyajian. With over 20 years experience, he has been focused on patient health that goes beyond just fixing a tooth problem.

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Aesthetics of Occlusal Correction

I figured I’d end the series on correcting malocclusions with “pretty” thoughts… thoughts about the visible benefits of occlusal correction.

What makes your smile natural also makes it beautiful. A correct bite will show in a smile that looks exactly how it was designed to look, not only displayed by straight teeth, but by the rest of your face as well. Your jaw moves in a way that is no longer detrimental to the surrounding muscles and joints in your face; your teeth no longer inhibit that movement or acquire further wear-and-tear; and you’ll be feeling better overall, because unusual tightness or tiredness in your mouth area will be gone. Add to all of that the confidence of a pretty smile!

A different kind of analysis, called a functional and aesthetic analysis, may be performed during the therapy in order to ensure the longterm health and beauty of your teeth.

Dr. Boyajian, West Los Angeles

www.dentalwellnessarts.com

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Occlusal Splint Therapy for Occlusal Correction

This type of therapy for occlusal correction is temporary, but does a lot of good things over a period of time to protect your bite and its bad effects on your whole chewing system — even your whole head, down to your shoulders.

I’ve mentioned the MAGO way back when, and how I use it to treat TMJ cases. This is just about identical. It is basically a hard plastic mouthguard designed to fit your mouth in such a way that provides a stable bite and prevents further clenching and/or grinding of your teeth. The splint also relieves jaw and muscle pain caused by malocclusion problems. The kind of treatment you’ll need after using an occlusal splint will determine how long you wear it, and may even change the course of negative effects again caused by your malocclusion.

Dr. Boyajian, West Los Angeles

www.dentalwellnessarts.com

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Occlusal Correction: Orthognathic Surgery

Okay, say it with me: “or-thog-NATH-ic.”

Quite a tongue-twister, yes, and this complicated name is fitting for what it is. Orthognathic surgery digs a little bit more into the nitty-gritty of occlusal correction, because it is full-on surgery of the jaw or teeth. Orthognathic surgery moves the jaw or teeth into their proper positions in cases where braces or smaller-scale solutions will not be effective. If bones need cutting, screwing, or reinforcing, this is what should be done.

Dr. Boyajian, West Los Angeles

www.dentalwellnessarts.com

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Occlusal Correction: Orthodontics

Correcting a malocclusion with orthodontic dentistry is similar to selective reshaping of teeth. The difference, however, is that selective reshaping is meant for moving one or a few individual teeth. Orthodontics moves broader groups of teeth using removable contraptions like braces or retainers. These methods also cause pleasing aesthetic results, straightening teeth and providing a pretty smile.

Careful comprehensive observance must be taken as the teeth are being corrected, in case moving so many teeth causes other negative changes in the chewing system. Just because your teeth are now straight doesn’t mean other problems are not present or waiting to appear. All cares and concerns should be voiced as early as possible, whether before, throughout, or after the process has been carried out.

Dr. Boyajian, West Los Angeles

www.dentalwellnessarts.com

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Occlusal Correction: Restorative Dental Work

The focus here is on occlusal (bite) correction, but this is where my CEREC unit comes in handy: restorations! Completely decayed, damaged, or missing teeth might be one of the most obvious problems contributing to a malocclusion… we cannot chew properly without all our teeth.

Like selective reshaping of teeth, restorative dental work is focused on the teeth and, well, restoring them, as opposed to reshaping the jaw or working with the surrounding muscles and cartilage. Crowns, inlays, onlays, dentures, or implants can be formed to bring back a mouth full of fully functional teeth.

Dr. Boyajian, West Los Angeles

 

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Occlusal Correction: Reshaping of Teeth

This is probably the first solution one might think of when wondering how a malocclusion will be corrected. The teeth are grinding together, so just move them around so they don’t. Right?

Well, I think we’ve learned that it’s a little bit more complex than that; but in some cases, the solution is as “simple” as moving teeth around. If the jaw, surrounding muscles and tissues, and everything else seems to be functioning well, selective reshaping can take place, and your teeth will fit together correctly when you bite down. This will halt and prevent further wear-and-tear on teeth that are perhaps showing signs of cracking, wearing, chipping, or breaking.

Dr. Boyajian, West Los Angeles

www.dentalwellnessarts.com

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Dental Malocclusion

A malocclusion is a “bad bite.” Easy enough, right?

If a good occlusion is defined as a bite where all components of the chewing system work together harmoniously, then a bad occlusion — a malocclusion — means that the teeth do not match up and fit together when you bite down. One or more of the components involved in the chewing system may not be functioning properly, and is most likely what is causing the teeth to come down abnormally.

The funny thing is that most of us don’t realize that we have a malocclusion until we go in for an occlusal analysis. After a while, we unconsciously train our muscles to chew in a certain way, to move in a certain direction repeatedly, so that it does seem like our teeth fit together fine. But you can’t really tell the difference between what’s “normal” and what’s “really normal” until you’ve had adjustments made because you’ve been doing it a certain way for so long.

Having a malocclusion almost guarantees wear and tear on your teeth, facial muscle fatigue, and long-term damage and/or disease throughout your whole mouth and jaw area. Having your malocclusion corrected is absolutely necessary for your mouth’s health and ultimately your whole body.

Dr. Boyajian, West Los Angeles

www.dentalwellnessarts.com

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Dental Occlusion

An occlusion is basically the noun form of the word “occlusal,” which we already know is a term describing your bite. An occlusion is the way your bite is uniquely designed, how your teeth come down on each other and fit into specific grooves to properly chew.

However, an occlusion does not merely describe how the teeth fit together because — what have we learned? — the chewing system involves the TMJ (temporo-mandibular joints… your jaw joints), jaw bones, muscles, ligaments, and all other soft tissues in your mouth. With the ideal occlusion, every one of these elements works with the others to create comfort, harmony, and efficiency in your chewing. If any of these elements is not functioning to its best potential, however, even the smallest hindrance can cause pain, injury, disease, and other problems. This is called a malocclusion and will be covered in tomorrow’s post.

Dr. Boyajian, West Los Angeles

www.dentalwellnessarts.com

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Dental Bite Analysis Overview

How is an occlusal analysis performed, exactly, and what is involved in the process?

Well, first, a mold of your teeth is taken so an accurate plaster or stone model of your bite can be examined. Using what’s called a facebow transfer, the dentist will find the center of your jaw joint’s rotation, and then take measurements to see how it relates to your upper jaw.

Imprints of your teeth are then taken for a bite registration. A bite registration shows the dentist how your teeth come together when you are biting down completely. Also, the pattern of your jaw’s movement when chewing is unique to every individual. This pattern is also recorded.

There is a device called an articulator that a dentist uses to view your exact bite without having to use your head (which translates into countless hours in a dentist’s chair for you, the patient). It looks like this. The models previously made of your teeth are installed into the articulator, along with all the measurements of your jaw’s exact movements and how your teeth come together when you bite down.

After some examination (and long after your appointment is finished and you’ve driven home in time for dinner, don’t worry), the dentist will do some analyzing and will determine what is causing problems with your bite. Is it a TMJ disorder? Are crowns that were formed years ago getting in the way of proper chewing? What needs to be done in order to make the next procedure(s) successful?

Your dentist will be able to tinker with the articulator and find the ideal form of chewing system for you. A wax model will be made, and your dentist will move towards making these changes before moving on to the aforesaid procedure(s).

And, voila! Not only will you have some super treatment coming your way, but you’ll be comfortable knowing that your entire chewing system will be working the way it is supposed to.

Dr. Boyajian, West Los Angeles

www.dentalwellnessarts.com

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When Should An Occlusal Analysis Be Done?

The occlusal analysis, when getting ready to perform any kind of orthodontic surgery, is crucial for a dentist or orthodontist to make the best possible choices for your oral health; a substantial number of problems are avoided when we know to not move a tooth in a certain direction, or design a mouthguard that will tire the jaw in an unhealthy manner. This is comprehensive dentistry; everything works together, and everything is related! An occlusal analysis is absolutely necessary before any of the following procedures:

  • Crown, bridge, denture, or implant treatment
  • Fabrication of a bite guard
  • Orthodontic treatment (an occlusal analysis should be performed after this as well)
  • Any other time a poor bite is suspected. Pay attention to symptoms like worn, chipped, or broken teeth; gum sensitivity and/or recession; pain in facial muscles; and other symptoms similar to prolonged gum disease, such as loose teeth, bone loss, and even tooth loss.

As a small side note, gum disease can, in fact, be evidence of a poor bite. But that’s a topic for another day.

Dr. Boyajian, West Los Angeles