Occlusion and articulation in digital dentistry: A review

Lee,  Jae-Hyun

J Korean Dent Assoc > Volume 58(8); 2020 > Article

The Journal of The Korean Dental Association 2020;58(8):505-512.
Published online August 31, 2020.

디지털 치의학 시대의 교합

이재현

서울대학교치과병원 원스톱협진센터

Occlusion and articulation in digital dentistry: A review

Jae-Hyun Lee

Department of Prosthodontics, One-Stop Specialty Center, Seoul National University Dental Hospital

Abstract

With the fourth industrial revolution, digitization is accelerating in all healthcare areas. In the field of dentistry, active discussions on digital dental technologies are ongoing, with increasing interest from clinicians daily. Thus far, accuracy and efficiency have primarily been emphasized in digital dentistry, and interest in occlusion has been relatively low. This is because digital dentistry has been predominantly used to restore small numbers of teeth rather than extensive prosthetic reconstruction. However, in the future, most dental treatments will undergo a digital transformation that will require the application of digital technology to more extensive prosthetic rehabilitation, for which discussion of occlusion is essential. In extensive prosthetic reconstruction, occlusion and articulation involve determining the position of the dental arch in relation to the reference plane of the skull or the long axis of the face and the position of the transverse horizontal axis. It also includes determining an occlusal surface with a shape that allows the mandible to move in an eccentric path and masticate most efficiently without any occlusal interference. To better understand how digitization will impact dentistry, this review article summarizes and discusses occlusion and articulation using digital dental technologies. This discussion is divided into several aspects, including facial scan, virtual articulation, augmented reality, and virtual reality.

Key Words: augmented reality;digital dental technologies;facial scan;occlusion;virtual articulation;virtual reality;