A preliminary report on the determination of the vertical dimension of occlusion using the principle of the mandibular position in swallowing.

When constructing replacement complete dentures, trying to estimate the correct occlusion vertical dimension (OVD) can be difficult. This paper describes a method of using the swallowing method to estimate the correct OVD and to form occlusal pivots on old dentures prior to constructing new ones. The method has been used on 21 patients. The mean increase in the OVD was 9.7 mm with the largest increase being 19 mm and the smallest 3 mm. All the increases in OVD were done in one step, there were no gradual build-ups. New dentures were constructed to the height of the pivots once the patients were comfortable with the modified old dentures. In three cases the OVD had to be reduced once the dentures had been constructed but in all other cases the patients continued to wear their new dentures. All 21 patients answered a questionnaire about their new dentures. All of them were wearing their new dentures, and 18 out of 21 patients thought that their new dentures were better than their previous ones.