The position of the occlusal plane in dentulous subjects with various skeletal jaw-relationships.

This study was conducted to examine the level and inclination of the occlusal plane in dentulous subjects with various skeletal jaw-relationships with the purpose of finding more reliable guides for locating the occlusal plane in edentulous patients. The investigation was carried out on 140 lateral cephalometric radiographs of young people with natural teeth in the intercuspal position. The sample was divided into three groups according to the skeletal relation of the jaws. The occlusal plane in this study and the two reference planes (maxillary and mandibular plane) were established according to the cephalometric criteria of Schwarz. On each radiograph both the angulation and the perpendicular distance of the occlusal plane to the reference planes were recorded and the values of the obtained data were subject to statistical analysis. The selected mean values of the angles and linear distances between the occlusal plane and reference planes calculated on the probability level of 95% could be used as cephalometric indicators for the locating or correcting the position of the occlusal plane in the prosthetic treatment of edentulous patients.