Reliability of Facial Measurements in Determination of Occlusal Vertical Dimension: A Cross-sectional Study on Indian Population

Abstract

Background: Over a period of years, the dental profession has come to accept the idea that the facial measurements have an important role to play for the determination of the Vertical Dimension of Occlusion and for the arrangement of the teeth. However, there has been no study which has effectively verified the data. So this study was carried out to establish the reliability of facial measurements and their role in the determination of the vertical dimension for edentulous patients. Methods: 2000 patients were selected and four groups were made. Three digital photographs for each person’s face were taken keeping the similar distance, light background to maintain standardization in the study. The photographs were transferred to the computer and opened into professional graphic software and enlarged to the standard life size. Measurements were recorded on both the left and right side of the face. Statistical analysis was carried out to determine the relation between facial measurements and the chin –nose distance. Results: Chin-nose distance = 4.14 + 0.343 eye-ear distance left side predicts the vertical dimension for Maratha males, Chin-nose distance = 2.04 + 0.581 eye-ear distance right side predicts the vertical dimension for Maratha females, Chin-nose distance = 2.48 + 0.541 eye-ear distances right side predicts the vertical dimension for rest of India males, None of the distance seems to predict chin-nose distance with reasonable accuracy in rest of India females. Conclusions: Eye-ear distance left side proved to be the best predictor for chin-nose distance in Maratha males. Eye-ear distance right side proved to be the best predictor for chin-nose distance in Maratha females. Eye-ear distance right side proved to be the best predictor for chin-nose distance in rest of India males. None of the distance seems to predict chin-nose distance with reasonable accuracy in rest of India females.