Page 50 - DP Vol 19 No 2 HR_Neat

cosmetic section
Versatile Function. Natural

Radiance. Attractive Price.

The benefits and advantages of using ViTA MFT® teeth to set up full prostheses.

José María Fonollosa
iNTRoducTioN
When the dentition of a toothless patient is restored with a
prosthesis, functional and esthetic aspects must be taken into
account. The main objective of a total prosthesis is to restore
the lost physiological functions, so that ideally, the prosthesis
corresponds to the original, natural teeth. On the esthetic level,
a dental prosthesis should have the most authentic possible
appearance, taking into consideration the patient’s expectations
(Figure 1). The challenge is to combine maximum functionality
with the esthetic requirements of the patient, i.e. to create a
prosthesis that fits the patient’s age, fulfills the patient’s notions
of beauty and gives him or her a vital appearance.
On the one hand, every restoration has to take into account
the functional and parafunctional movements of the mandible,
i.e. all excursive movements, which are responsible for the Fig 1: VITA MFT anterior teeth look very natural and meet high
specific function-related patterns on the chewing surfaces of esthetic demands.
the antagonists. On the other hand, all the factors must be taken
into account that determine the alignment of the fissures as well
as the height, inclination and position of the cusps: condylar
path, anterior guidance, height and inclination of the cusps,
compensation curves, orientation plane, Bennett movement,
Bennett angle, distance of the teeth from the rotation axis of
the condyles and from the median sagittal plane as well as the
intercondylar distance.
Against this background, the selection of an artificial tooth
is of crucial importance, since it has to meet all of these occlusal
requirements (Figure 2). In addition, it has to have the most
anatomical morphology possible and meet the beauty notions
of the patient in respect to shape, shade and surface texture, in
order not to appear artificial in the patient’s mouth (Figure 3).
The selecTioN oF ANTeRioR TeeTh
To determine the right anterior tooth, detailed information
about the proportions of the patient’s face must be available.
In developing the VITA MFT anterior teeth, the manufacturer, Fig 2: VITA MFTs are suitable for all setup concepts. Here:
VITA Zahnfabrik (Bad Säckingen, Germany), oriented bilaterally balanced occlusion.
themselves to four typical face shapes and correspondingly
designed four tooth shapes: square (Figure 4), triangular (Figure
5), oval (Figure 6) and rectangular (Figure 7). From an esthetic
perspective, the harmony between the shape of the anterior
teeth and the shape of the patient’s face is important, since their
prominent position characterizes the overall appearance.
The shapes of woman’s teeth must also be considered, as often
they have curving lines and a more strongly curved incisal edge
(Figure 8), while the rectangular shape with a straight incisal
edge is more common among men.
Further sex-specific characteristics can frequently be seen
in the lateral incisors: in women, these are often considerably Fig 3: In order not to be noticeable, VITA MFT teeth have nearly
smaller than the middle incisors and thereby emphasize the natural proportions and a realistic morphology.
50 Dental Practice i March-April 2023 i Vol 19 No 2