The primary stress-bearing areas or support areas for the mandibular denture are the buccal shelves. For the maxillary denture, the residual ridges and the rugae support the denture. Anything that directs the forces away from these areas will be destructive to the bone and destabilizing to the denture. Occlusal schemes fall into two general categories, balanced and nonbalanced. In nonbalanced occlusion, proponents suggest the mobile denture bases make it impossible to achieve balance.
Normal contact occurs in CR only, and eccentric contacts are destructive.
In balanced occlusion, proponents claim that patients do use eccentric positions, so an attempt must be made to control this force and distribute it over the denture base. The following are some of the options for occlusal schemes and their indications and contraindications. This concept was created to provide even tooth contacts between posterior and anterior teeth as the mandible moves to and from centric and eccentric positions. Advantages 1. Esthetics. The teeth used are usually 33-degree teeth that closely mimic the shape of the natural dentition.