Nonfunctional and functional occlusal contacts: A review of the literature

T herapeutic acts which modify occlusal anatomy are supported by various concepts which all refer to an “ideal occlusion.” This ideal occlusion has been described in several ways but rarely on an experimental basis. The principal experimental results bearing on occlusal contacts are assembled in this review of occlusal relationships of dentitions subjected to neither iatrogenic nor pathologic factors. Therefore, the question of occlusal contacts is treated not with respect to an “ideal occlusion” but from a statistical point of view applied to static maxillomandibular relationships as well as to mastication and swallowing.