Occlusal adjustment by grinding of teeth; indications and techniques.

Occlusal adjustment by grinding of teeth is a therapy that all dentist can master, provided they base it on a knowledge of what constitutes an acceptable occlusion. There is hardly use for intricate or difficult rules and prescriptions for occlusal adjustment. After having diagnosed the occlusal condition in the patient, the dentist has to decide how to attain the goal : an acceptable occlusion without interferences, that is tooth substance that is in the way of harmonious function. Very often simple grinding of teeth can improve the occlusion of our patients. And in combination with other corrective measures, e.g. prosthetic rehabilitation and orthodontic treatment, occlusal adjustment by grinding deserves to be used much more frequently in clinical dentistry than it is today. It is a cheap and simple procedure that can improve our patient's occlusal hygiene. And occlusal hygiene is a concept that now should be incorporated in odontology as oral hygiene seems to have been universally accepted. And we dentists are even more responsible for increasing the quality of occlusion in our patients than we are for the standard of their oral hygiene.