Balance contact

In dentistry, a balance contact is understood to mean the antagonist contact on the non-working side (non-chewing side) of the dentition during a sideways movement of the lower jaw (mediotrusion movement).

Natural teeth

In natural dentition, when the lower jaw moves sideways, the canine guidance prevents contact between the teeth of the upper and lower jaw. Hyperbalances are harmful. They can lead to disruption of the feed-back mechanism within the neuromuscular coordination and thereby trigger parafunctions , in particular crunching habits . (The disruptive contact should, as it were, be ground away by the grinding). Further possible consequences are Stillmann columns , McCollum garlands , up to temporomandibular joint problems and tooth loosening. Balance contacts can be eliminated by grinding in the bit.

Canine guidance

Canine guidance in natural dentition. The molars get out of contact.

In natural dentition, the canine guidance ensures that the lower jaw is forced to open when it moves sideways (laterotrusion movement). When the lower jaw moves sideways, the canines of the upper and lower jaw block sideways movement. It is only possible when the canine of the lower jaw slides along the canine of the upper jaw, forcing the mouth to open. As a result, the teeth in the posterior area ( premolars and molars ) get out of contact. The front teeth ( incisors and canines) have the same effect when the lower jaw moves forward, with the front teeth of the lower jaw then sliding along the inside of the front teeth of the upper jaw and forcing the molars to open. Due to their long roots, canines are suitable for absorbing lateral loading forces that would lead to loosening of the remaining teeth, which have shorter roots.

Full denture

In the case of a full denture , on the other hand, balance contacts are not only desirable, but also help to stabilize the prosthesis. Just guiding the front and canine teeth would cause the prostheses to be levered out and tilted. In exceptional cases, it can serve as a basis, for example in the case of a pronounced ridge and young prosthesis wearers. For this reason, denture teeth are set up and ground in in such a way that there are no levering guide zones. Rather, balance contacts are intentionally made. This means that when the lower jaw moves sideways, the teeth on both sides slide in contact with one another. When the lower jaw moves forward, the molars of the upper and lower jaw prosthesis also slide over one another and provide distal (rear) support. For this purpose, the teeth are set up according to the Spee curve (sagittal compensation curve ).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Klaus H. Rateitschak, Edith M. Rateitschak, Herbert F. Wolf: Periodontology . In: Color atlases of dentistry . tape 1 . Thieme, Stuttgart; New York 1984, ISBN 3-13-655601-1 , pp. 281 (321 p., Limited preview in Google Book search).
2. ↑ Horst Gründler, Ulrich Stüttgen: The total prosthesis . Verlag Neuer Merkur GmbH, 2005, ISBN 978-3-929360-84-4 , p. 134 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
3. ↑ Klaus M. Lehmann, Elmar Hellwig, Hans-Jürgen Wenz: Dental Propaedeutics: Introduction to Dentistry; with 32 tables . Deutscher Ärzteverlag, 2012, ISBN 978-3-7691-3434-6 , p. 361 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
4. ↑ Horst Gründler, Ulrich Stüttgen: The total prosthesis . Verlag Neuer Merkur GmbH, 2005, ISBN 978-3-929360-84-4 , p. 151 ( limited preview in Google Book search).

This article is about a health issue. It is not used for self-diagnosis and does not replace a diagnosis by a doctor. Please note the information on health issues !