Practical Applications in Dental Occlusion

Passionately delving into the underlying biologic principles of occlusion to bring order to the chaos, the author breaks this controversial subject down to its core components, providing key practical guidance to dentists on whether to keep or change a patient's existing occlusion, how to change occlusion, and how to accurately record the new maxillomandibular relationship.

Michael Radu, DDS, MS, is a dentist who has practiced for over 40 years in three different countries across two continents. He believes strongly that his work is to help dentists with occlusion in their practice, so he lectures and educates his fellow dentists every chance he gets. He believes in science above all, which is why occlusion lies so close to his heart. Michael Radu also believes in the power of mentorship and the importance of sharing ideas to achieve new levels of understanding. Beginning with his physics professor in college and stretching to Klaus Pfeiffle and Michael Noczinski in Germany, Peter Dawson and Frank Spear in the United States, and the coterie of dentists at the American Equilibration Society, the support and positive challenges he was given have shaped his scientific approach to occlusion. In his eyes, the simplest, most irrefutable evidence is mathematics. When we think in terms of stability, vector of force, angles, and alike, we are less prone to make mistakes. Dentists will always prefer to work in the existing occlusion because no changes seem safer than the alternative, but Michael Radu challenges this notion and implores his colleagues to understand the scientific principles underlying the concept of occlusion so they can better care for their patients.