Contacts in maximal occlusion

Occlusion, defined as the presence of contact of antagonistic teeth, has been measured. This has been done by measuring the amount and magnitude of holes in bite registration materials taken from nine persons with complete natural dentitions. In spite of clear differences between the bites found by inspection, small differences have been found by measurement. Bite-, day- and testee-effects were controlled. The implications of the findings are discussed in terms of reliability and also of the epidemiological and clinical applicability of the method.