Form follows function: This should be the dentist's principle. Dr. Jan Hajtó, Munich/Germany, explains in detail why and how function should be as well an important part of the daily routine in dental practice as aesthetics are. In this first part of his lecture he introduces basic ideas and principles. The term "craniomandibular dysfunction" describes no specific diagnosis, but a potential symptom complex, whose single symptomal elements can be combined in merely any way.

The symptomal elements are mainly head ache, tensions, joint noises, immobilities as well as intraoral findings like attrition, wedge-shaped defects etc. All these are symptoms, which can be caused by disocclusion, too. Some papers deny the correlation, but jurisdiction already says: It's the dentist's duty prior to a prosthodontic rehabilitation to assess if the patient suffers from a disfunction. If it is so the dentist has to treat this disfunction first (or - in case the patient doesn't consent - refuse the prosthodontic treatment).