Master Class with Dr. Neeraj Khanna | July 14, 2023

Objectives:

• Understand Functional Occlusion
• Understand Functional Aesthetics
• Understanding how form follows function
• How to achieve predictable design for aesthetic results
• How to create an ideal stable occlusion
• Understanding the “Triangle of Occlusion”
• The importance of Incisal edge position.

Course Description:

• Why does Functional Aesthetics matter in Dentistry? A clear majority of clinicians around the world understands the basics of aesthetic dentistry, but do not understand the relevance it has on the outcomes for their patient’s occlusion. Not understanding the relevance will bite you in the end in the form of frustration, unpredictable results and failures. To comprehend functional aesthetic dentistry, one must obtain information pertaining to the patient’s joints, muscles, occlusion and teeth. The procurement of this information allows the dentist to become a physician of the entire masticatory system. The fundamentals of occlusion are directly related to function. In other words, form does follow function. The understanding of how the masticatory system functions in relation to the dentition allows the dentist to provide treatment that is not only predictable, but natural, and long lasting. One of the goals of a perfected occlusion is to have equal intensity contacts on all teeth while the joints (TMJ) are seated in centric relation. In addition, the anterior teeth also play an important role in establishing correct occlusion and the envelope of function. When anterior teeth are restored correctly, the patient’s envelope of function must be correctly restored to achieve natural movements of the mandible. The lecture will provide information with illustrations on how functional aesthetics can allow dentists to practice and deliver results that are predictable. The very goal of using these principles is not to only have excellent aesthetic, but to have consistent predictable long-lasting results.