[Occlusal re-equilibrium in patients with the craniomandibular dysfunctional syndrome. The use of a functional plate]. / Il riequilibrio occlusale nei pazienti affetti da sindrome disfunzionale cranio mandibolare. L'impiego di una placca funzionale.

To elaborate any protocol treatment it is vitally important to start therapy with the aim of resolving the etiological factor in order to avoid the risk of recidivation. For this purpose the stages which have led to the loss of functional equilibrium must be traced backwards. The most striking symptoms of this damage are represented by the altered occlusal ratios, but the etiopathogenesis must be sought not only in occlusal causes but, more often, in dysmorphic, postural or neuro-muscular causes. It is necessary to start working backwards having restored the spatial position of the jaw in all three dimensions. In order to achieve this for the past three years the authors have routinely used an occlusal plate that they have perfected in the treatment of the majority of patients with dysfunctional syndrome of the stomatognathic apparatus. Over 70% of approximately 600 cases referred to the authors during the same period were treated in this way. The choice of these cases was conditioned by the facial typology of patients. In fact, these patients were characterised by a facial typology which tended to be hypo-divergent. This provoked a condition of "mandibular imprisonment" with an occlusal ratio which locks the jaw in a retruded position. This condition is identified by the authors as the factor that triggers the syndrome not only in those patients in which it is clearly possible to diagnose occlusal diagnosis, but also in those cases in which the pathogenetic motive has a number of causes, for example, poor posture and cases of dysmorphosis.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)