Checking dental occlusion by biting on transparent polymer strip - which is examined in polarised light for stress birefringence

摘要

A strip of incompletely elastic material, i.e. elastoplastic material is gripped between the teeth to be examined so that indentations are made in the strip. The strip material has to be optically isotropic and offer a birefringence to mechanical stress. The strip pref. has a uniform thickness of between 0.1 and 0.3 mm. and can be made of a polymer such as nylon or polythene. Teeth grip on the strip is maintained long enough to produce semi-permanent indentations. Pref. for between 10-60 seconds. The strip is then released and the indentations examined under polarised light. To simulate biting on food, a separator of deformable or elastic material, pref. between 0.5-3.0 mm thick, can be sandwiched between two strips as previously described.