Evaluation of prosthodontic treatment by occlusal force distribution: a methodological study

This study describes a new method to apply bite force measurement as an objective evaluation prosthodontic treatment. The occlusal load centre, i.e. the centre of balance of distributed occlusal force on the dentition is used as an index of bite force. The digitised image of the occlusal load centre was superimposed on the digitised image of a standardised maxillary cast. The measurement error for superimposition was small and the method was found to be useful to record and store an objective evaluation of prosthodontic treatment and masticatory function.