[Occlusal aspects of asymmetry]

The dysfunctions of the masticatory apparatus can exhibit many different aspects, and multiple etiologies. If, among those, the occlusal causes are minimized today by a majority of the authors, it is nevertheless recognized that asymmetries represent a risk factor for the appearance and the development of dysfunctional pathologies for the masticatory apparatus. In presence of such dysmorphoses, it is of primary importance to proceed to dysfunction screening, which may be followed by a specialized clinical examination of the masticatory apparatus completed when required, by supplementary investigations. This stage enables both to pose the indispensable diagnosis, to evaluate the capacities for adaptation and suggest a coherent therapeutic approach, always starting with reversible treatments prolonged after re-evaluation and validation of their justification, by the stabilization of the occlusal relationships, a phase in which orthodontics often intervene.