Preferred Chewing Side and the Angulation of Anterior Tooth Guidance

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate a possible relationship between preferred chewing side (PCS) and the anterior guidance (AG) angle. Methods: Altogether 40 dental nurses and technicians, aged 24-46, were given a piece of chewing gum which they chewed for about 3 minutes. At 7 regular intervals (every 15 seconds) they were interrupted by the principal investigator in order to observe on which side of their mouth the bolus of chewing gum was. Moulds of their jaws were made and the position of the maxillary arch relative to temporomandibular joints was recorded with a facebow and transferred to a semi-adjustable articulator. After mounting the stone casts of each subject, a measure of the incisal guidance angle was taken with an adjustable incisal table. Results: There was a correlation between PCS and a flat angulation of teeth constituting the anterior guidance in the sample of population chosen for this study. Only fourteen subjects (35%) presented a PCS, but  78.6% of them had a flatter anterior tooth angulation on that same side therefore showing more anterior tooth wear on the side which was their preferred side. The angulation of AG on the preferred side was found to be an average of 6.1 degrees flatter than on the opposite side. Conclusions: Since the habit of preferring one side for chewing seems to be detrimental over time, it is suggested that dentists pay attention to the presence of PCS when restoring teeth responsible for the anterior guidance and try to restore them so that patients can chew on both sides of their mouth. Acknowledgements: This work was supported by Kuwait University Research Grant DR01/11.