Intercondylar width as a guide to setting up complete denture teeth.

A clinical study was designed to investigate the relationship between intercondylar width (ICW) and inter-dental widths of the upper and lower canines and first molars to aid in denture teeth positioning. The study was divided into two parts so that the results of the first part could be verified in the second part. In the first part, 27 adult subjects were selected according to the exclusion criteria of the study. A kinematic hinge axis locator was used to locate the true point of condylar rotation. The distance between these points was considered to be the ICW. A strong correlation was found between ICW and interdental measurements, with ICW and upper first molars being the strongest (r=0.612, P= 0.004). A set of indices developed from the results was recommended for the positioning of complete denture teeth. In the second part of the study, inter-dental measurements were estimated using the indices obtained in the first part. The estimated inter-dental widths showed no significant differences compared with the real widths (P= 0.109, P=0.849, P=0.353, P=0.41). Based on the results of this study, ICW measurements can be used for setting up canines and first molars in complete dentures.