We do lots of cosmetic smile design reconstructions in the lab, and one frequent request for occlusal rehab cases from our dentists is this "Please open the bite by 1.5mm", sounds simple huh?
Well, the problem is - where do we raise the bite from? Many replies we get to this question say "Raise the bite on the posterior teeth by 1.5 mm", but if we do this, then anterioirly the bite is raised much more.
Some times we are asked to simply raise the bite vertically by 1.5mm, but this again has big problems due to the arc of closure.
Opening the bite on an articulator is never the best solution, here is a diagram which seeks to demonstrate this further.
Notice that if the bite is opened vertically then the upper/lower relationship looks very different to if it is raised on the articulator itself due to the arc of closure... obvious really! However this is simply an exageration of what happens when we open the bite on the articulator... we have NO WAY of knowing if the arc of closure is the same as in the mouth, this means we have no way of knowing if the new opened bite will be the same new opened bite when the restorations are fitted... a recipe for disaster.
To overcome this, we recommend opening the bite in the mouth to the amount that you wish, then recording this increased vertical dimension with a squash bite. This then ensures that the opening we mount to is the same as your patient.
How have you overcome this same problem?
