Correlations between the Visual Apparatus and Dental Occlusion: A Literature Review

Abstract

Background The development of visual functions takes place in the first months of postnatal life and is completed around the one year of age. In this period, the maturation of the retina and the visual pathways occur, and binocular bonds are established at the level of the visual cortex. During this phase and then for a few years, a certain plasticity of the visual functions remains, which seem therefore susceptible to change both in a pejorative sense (by pathogens) and in an improving sense (for example, by therapeutic measures). This plasticity involves also the oculomotor system. Due to this plasticity, many researchers believe that there are some functional correlations between the visual and the stomatognathic apparatus. But the scientific evidence of this statement has not been clarified yet. Aim The purpose of this review is therefore to analyze the clinical data in this field and finally to establish their level of evidence. Studies have been collected from the main databases, based on keywords. Results The results showed a middle level of evidence since most of the data derive from case-control studies and cross-sectional studies. Conclusions The level of evidence allows establishing that there is a correlation between ocular disorders (myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism, exophoria, and an unphysiological gait due to ocular convergence defects) and dental occlusion, but it is not possible to establish the cause-effect relationship. Future studies should be aimed at establishing higher levels of evidence (prospective, controlled, and randomized studies).

Post-Traumatic Craniocervical Disorders From a Postural Control Perspective: A Narrative Review

“…Vompi and colleagues [ 116 ] also reported on 100 TMD patients a significant increase in ocular convergence insufficiency but also ocular deviation such as phorias and tropias as well as astigmatism compared to controls. Similar observations were made with dental malocclusion concerning tropia, phoria, ocular convergence defects, astigmatism, and myopia [ 117 ]. It seems, therefore, undeniable that direct neurophysiological connections exist between both systems.…”

Relationship of skeletal malocclusion with eye and hair color in Turkish adolescent patients

“…e literature contains several studies that evaluate the relationship between eye structure against various aspects of maxillomandibular structures. [10][11][12][13][17][18][19] However, none of these studies examined the association between eye color and craniofacial skeletal measurements. Although statistical analysis of the collated data did not identify a significant relationship between the color of the eyes and the hair and skeletal malocclusion, the data did determine that certain parameters involved in defining craniofacial skeletal characteristics were significant.…”

Rare case of skeletal third class in a subject suffering from Solitary Median Maxillary Central Incisor syndrome (SMMCI) associated to panhypopituitarism

“…The median solitary maxillary central incisor syndrome (SMMCI) is a rare malformative syndrome consisting of multiple defects, mainly found on the body midline. Thus, the clinical finding of the presence of a single central incisor can be an isolated trait or be only an aspect of the SMMCI syndrome that includes other anomalies such as: intellectual disability, congenital heart disease, microcephaly, convergent strabismus, esophageal and duodenal problems, cervical atresia, cervical hemivertebrae, cervical dermoid, scoliosis, absent kidney, micropenis and ambiguous genitalia [ 1 , 2 ]. In addition, it can also suggest the presence of holoprosencephaly [ 3 ], a complex brain malformation affecting both the forebrain and the face, resulting in various neurological deficits and facial defects [ 1 ].…”