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Updated: Aug 7, 2026

A Structured Rehabilitation Protocol for Improved Multifunctional Prosthetic Control: A Case Study
Published on: November 7, 2015
Shape changes due to functional appliances
1Section of Orthodontics, UCLA School of Dentistry 90024.
Abstract:
Functional appliances are now routinely used in orthodontic treatment to correct anteroposterior skeletal discrepancies, based on the assumption that existing functional patterns can be modified to yield a new morphological pattern. However, the mechanisms by which this correction occurs remain in dispute as current measurement procedures, primarily mathematical, do not adequately describe shape changes. This paper introduces a new measurement method, Fourier descriptors, to clinical dentistry.
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