Facial Clues and Vertical Dimension of Occlusion: Diagnostic Study in a Moroccan Population

Abstract

Goal of the study : To detect the prevalence, association and correlation that may exist between the vertical dimension of occlusion and certain facial clues in a toothed population in search of a simplified method for the determination of DVO in complete edentulous people.Introduction : The methods for recording the vertical dimension of occlusion, rest or phonetic vertical are very numerous, attesting to the absence of a universal scientific method for its determination. The aesthetic criterion of respecting morphological proportions constitutes for many authors a preferential reference guide. Determining the vertical occlusion dimension (DVO) remains a complex and imprecise step using several complementary methods. Exploitation of clues Facials seem a simple and promising means but a subject still to controversies. Material and method : We conducted a diagnostic study, spread over a period of one and a half years within the faculty of dentistry of Rabat. The facial indices studied were as follows: the inter-pupillary distance, the distance between the inner canthus and the labial commissure, the distance between the center of the pupil and the labial commissure, the internal canthus distance from the eyes × 2, the external canthus distance from the ear, the distance between external canthus and internal canthus (opposite eye), width of eyes × 2 and distance between external wing of nose and eyebrow. The measurements (DVO and different facial clues) were taken by the same operator directly on the toothed subjects, using a caliper.Results and discussion : On the 103 subjects, our sample presented a predominantly female with an average age of 21 years ± 3.9. The average vertical occlusion dimension was 50.49 mm ± 6.45. We noted a concordance between the DVO and two facial indices namely the internal canthus-labial commissure distance (51.16 mm ± 6.11) and the center of the pupil-labial commissure distance (52.18 mm ± 6.66). The reliability analysis was in favor of a positive, strong and very significant correlation between the DVO and the following measures: the inter-pupillary distance, the internal canthus distance-labial commissure and the center distance of the pupil-labial commissure (p <0.001). By adjusting the inter-pupillary distance, the internal canthus-labial commissure distance, the center distance of the pupil-labial commissure, the internal canthus distance from the eyes × 2, the external canthus-ear distance, the width of the eyes × 2, the distance between the external wing of the nose and the eyebrow, only the distance between the internal canthus and the labial commissure, the distance between the external canthus and the ear and the width of the eyes × 2 were explanatory variables for the DVO.Conclusion : The inter-pupillary distance, the internal canthus-labial commissance distance and the center distance of the pupil-labial commissure approximate the vertical dimension of occlusion in the dentate subject. The use of these facial indices seems interesting in complete removable prosthesis because of its simplicity and speed.