Bite Me Week: A Creative Approach to Learning Occlusion

One thing I’ve learned about education and teaching others is you have to be creative and make it fun. As a result, I came up with “Bite Me Week,” an intellectual evaluation of occlusion in humans and animals.

In early April, the 12 technicians in our removable department spent a week evaluating and comparing the dentition of three different humans, a shark and a bear. On each of the first three days, they looked at the human cases; they were actual in-lab cases mounted on semi-adjustable articulators so technicians could properly examine the occlusion and the functional aspects of each patient.

Each technician had 10 minutes to examine the case and write down his or her observations. Each day, I summarized all the observations—such as deeply intercuspating cusps, tooth #1 not fully erupted, a diastema is present, occlusal planes not even, maxillary laterals longer than centrals, and stable anterior holding contacts—and posted them for...