Evidence-based considerations for removable prosthodontic and dental implant occlusion: a literature review

The dental literature is filled with discussions of dental occlusion, occlusal schemes, philosophies, and methods to correct and restore the diseased, worn, or damaged occlusion. Traditionally, these discussions have been empirical in nature and not based on scientific evidence. Due to the empirical nature of the literature, the study of occlusion has been extremely complex and troublesome to both pre- and post-doctoral students. The introduction of osseointegrated implants has further complicated the situation. Dentists may apply the principles of occlusion for the natural dentition directly to implant-supported and retained restorations. Although this may be successful, this rationale may result in overly complex or simplified treatment protocols and outcomes. There is an emerging body of scientific literature related to dental implant therapy that may be useful in formulating treatment protocols and prosthesis designs for implant-supported restorations. This review focuses on some of the "classic" removable prosthodontic literature and the currently available scientific literature involving removable prosthodontic occlusion and dental implant occlusion. The authors reviewed the English peer-reviewed literature prior to 1996 in as comprehensive manner as possible, and material after 1996 was reviewed electronically using MEDLINE. Electronic searches of the literature were performed in MEDLINE using key words-animal studies, case series, clinical trials, cohort studies, complete denture occlusion, dental implant function, dental implant occlusion, dental implant occlusion research, dental implant functional loading, dental implants, dental occlusion, dental occlusion research, denture function, denture occlusion, dentures, implant function, implant functional loading, implant occlusion, occlusion, and removable partial denture occlusion-in various combinations to obtain potential references for review. A total of 5447 English language titles were obtained, many of which were duplicates due to multiple searches. Manual hand searching of the MEDLINE reference list was performed to identify any articles missed in the original search.