DEVELOPMENT OF

OCCLUSION

DEPT. OF ORTHDONTICS AND

DENTOFACIAL ORTHOPEDICS
DEFINITIONS
•Occlusion
Is defined as the anatomic alignment of teeth
and their relationship to the rest of the masticatory
system.
•BSSO in 1926 defined occlusion as the relationship of
the teeth in the maxilla and mandible when the jaws
are closed and the condyles are at rest in the glenoid
fossae

• Normal occlusion
This refers to an occlusion that deviates in one or more
ways from ideal yet it is well adopted to that particular
environment, is esthetic and shows no pathologic
manifestations or dysfunction.
Periods of occlusal development:
Occlusal development can be divided into
following periods:
Pre dental period
The deciduous dentition period
Mixed dentition period
Permanent dentition period
Pre dental period:
Period after birth during which neonates does
not have any teeth.
It usually lasts for 6 months.
The alveolar process at the time of birth are
known as gum pads.
They are horse shoe shaped and develop in
two parts.
The gum pads are divided into ten segments by
certain grooves called transverse grooves.
Each of these segments consist of one
developing deciduous tooth sac.
The upper gum pad is both wider and longer
than the mandibular gum pad.
Relationship of gum pads:
Anterior open bite is seen at rest with
contact only in the molar region.
Tongue protrude anteriorly through this
space.
There is complete overjet.
Class II pattern with the maxillary gum pad
being more prominent.
The neonate is without teeth for about 6
months of life.
At birth the gum pads are not sufficiently
wide to accommodate the developing incisors.
However teeth are found to have erupted at
the time of birth.
Such teeth that are present at the time of birth
are called Natal teeth.
Teeth that erupt during the first year if life
are called Neonatal teeth.
Deciduous dentition period:
The initiation of primary tooth buds occurs
during the sixth week of intrauterine life.
The primary teeth begins to erupt at the age
of about 6 months.
The primary dentition is usually established
by 3 years on eruption of second deciduous
molars.
The sequence of eruption is A – B – D – C –
E
Between 3 to 6 years the dental arch is very
stable and very few changes occurs.
Signs of primary dentition :
Spacing is usually seen in the deciduous anteriors to
accommodate larger permanent teeth in the jaws.

Primate spaces: this space is present mesial to the

maxillary canine and distal to the mandibular canine.
This space is used for early mesial shift.
Occlusal relation:
Flush terminal plane:
The distal surfaces of the maxillary and the
mandibular molars are in the same vertical plane,
this is normal relationship in the deciduous
dentition because mesiodistal width of mandibular
molar is greater than the maxillary molar.
When the terminal plane is straight until the
eruption of permanent first molars, the latter are
usually guided into an end to end relationship which
is considered normal.
Interproximal cavities, sucking habits or skeletal
pattern may produce a step rather than a flush
terminal plane.
Distal step: Distal surface of the mandibular
deciduous second molar is more distal than the distal
surface of the maxillary deciduous second molar.
Mesial step:
Distal surface of the mandibular deciduous
second molar is mesial to the distal surface of the
maxillary deciduous second molar,