ارزيابي صحت ارتفاع عمودي اكلوزال پروتز كامل در بيماران بي دندان 50-31 ساله

Title: Evaluation of adjustment of vertical dimension of occlusion in 31-50 year old edentulous patients

introduction: Establishing vertical dimension of occlusion (VDO) or vertical relation of jaws is one of the important factors in prosthetic treatment procedures for edentulous patients. It is usually done in mandibular rest position which in turn is affected by different factors such as loss of teeth, patient age and amount of bone resorption after being edentulous, and also the method for determination of VDO (relaxation, swallowing, phonetic...), and patient position. The aim of this study was to evaluate the adjustment of VDO determined by dentists compared with that of swallowing and phonetic methods, and anthropometric measurements. Materials & Methods: In a descriptive analytical cross-sectional study, one hundred 31-50 year old edentulous patients reffering to clinics and private offices in Babol were selected in cluster sampling. VDO was determined in patients by speech and swallowing methods. Also distances of external corner of eye to tragus of left ear, pupils to lip corner, glabella to subnasal, and distance between tip of thumb to tip of pointing finger were evaluated in two sessions by two independent observations using electronic digital caliper. The VDO obtained through these measurements was compared with the exiting one determined by dentist.The data were analysed using SPSS 10.5 software (T-test). Results: Mean existing VDO (subnasal to submental) was 73.49mm+7.9 while a VDO of 76.59mm±5.46 was obtained via swallowing and 75.89mm+5.34 via speech methods. The difference was significant (P<0.05). A significant correlation was detected between both the VDO determined via speech and swallowing and either external corner of eye-tragus and pupil-lip corner distances (P>0.05). Conclusion: It seems that most of the dentists consider a shorter VDO for complete dentures.