Occlusal Splint: A Vital Adjunct in Full Mouth Rehabilitation for Cases of Severely Worn Dentition

Abstract

Introduction: Excessive wear of dentition results in functional disharmony, loss of esthetics, pulpal injuries and compromises longevity of dentition adversely. The etiological factors of tooth wear may be abrasion, attrition, or erosion acting individually or in combination. Case Report: The present case report emphasizes the use of a ‘sectional occlusal verticalization splint’, as a guide for full mouth rehabilitation. As the treatment plan envisaged was occlusal rehabilitation using reorganized approach, sectional splint offered the advantage of restoring the exact amount of vertical dimension to which patient had got programmed. The vertical dimension was maintained during various phases of segmental technique using sectional splint. Conclusion: Although there are plethora of philosophies and techniques available for full mouth rehabilitation there is a limited evidence-based literature on a particular method for exact restoration of vertical dimension. Also, due to presence of many hard and soft tissues variables in human stomatognathic system, making various occlusal records and repeated transfer to mechanical articulator may introduce errors. Therefore, an occlusal ‘verticalization splint’, well accepted by patients stomathognathic dynamics, may act as the best guide to restore vertical dimension with an added advantage of reduction in errors due to omission of various steps of occlusal recordings, transfers and use of mechanical