Flex Your Dental Skills in 2026: Master Muscles, Movements, and Occlusion!

The key idea is that protecting posterior teeth hinges on how the posterior cusps are designed to contact during function. When the posterior cusp height arrangement is set correctly, these cusps meet in a way that distributes forces wisely and allows anterior guidance (or canine guidance) to disclude the back teeth during eccentric movements. This arrangement helps prevent interferences and excessive loading on posterior teeth, reducing wear, fracture, and overload.

Tongue posture, condylar size, and muscle fatigue can influence overall jaw position or function, but they do not directly determine how the posterior cusp heights are organized to provide that protective occlusion.