occlusion

This term carries a clinical and technical weight, evoking a sense of complete obstruction or a physical barrier that stops flow. It is rarely used in casual conversation, appearing instead in medical reports to describe blocked blood vessels or in astronomy to describe celestial bodies hiding one another. In dentistry, the word shifts toward the functional alignment of teeth. Here, it describes the precise way the upper and lower jaws meet, moving from the idea of a blockage to the idea of a structural fit or contact point.