Published September 2026

1 of 4When you bite down, one spot lands before all the others
  1. When you bite down, one spot lands before all the others
  2. Marking paper leaves a colored dot on the high spot
  3. A gentle polish takes off less than the thickness of paper
  4. Bite again and the contact is even. No appliance, no numbing needed

Who usually does it

general dentist. Done in general and prosthodontic offices.

One question worth asking

How much tooth is being adjusted, and can it be done in stages?

Full mouth bite adjustment

Mouthguards and appliancesMajorD9952

D9952. The whole bite is reshaped over one or more visits.

Reshaping tiny high spots on teeth so they meet evenly when you bite. It can be a few teeth or the whole mouth, sometimes planned on mounted models first.

Marking paper shows where the teeth hit first, and those high spots are polished down by fractions of a millimeter until the contact spreads evenly. A small adjustment after a new filling or crown takes minutes; a whole-mouth one is planned on mounted models first and done over several visits. Enamel taken off does not grow back, so it is done in small steps.

Full mouth bite adjustment (D9952): what happens, step by step | TruthMolar