Cephalometric configuration of the occlusal plane in patients with anterior open bite.
INTRODUCTION This study was performed to investigate the cephalometric configuration of the occlusal plane in patients with anterior open bite. METHODS Of 61 subjects with open bite (overbite =3.75 mm) who had been recruited consecutively from January 2006 to November 2013 and had no history of orthodontic treatment, 14 cephalometric landmarks indicating the incisal edge or the buccal or mesiobuccal cusp tips of each tooth were used for K means clustering to classify the occlusal plane configuration. For the open bite group and a control group with normal occlusion (n 38) dentoalveolar height, which is the perpendicular distance of each tooth to the palatal or mandibular plane, was compared among the clusters and between the 2 groups. RESULTS The open bite subjects were divided into 2 clusters according to occlusal contact of the premolars: Y form and V form (with and without premolar contact, respectively) The normalized dentoalveolar heights of the 4 mandibular teeth (lateral incisor to second premolar) were significantly greater in the Y form class than in the V form class. The dentoalveolar heights of the 5 maxillary teeth (lateral incisor to first molar) were significantly greater in the open bite group than in the control group. CONCLUSIONS For anterior open bite treatment, the cephalometric configuration of the occlusal plane should be considered based on the occlusal contacts of the premolars.
American journal of orthodontics and dentofacial orthopedics official publication of the American Association of Orthodontists, its constituent societies, and the American Board of Orthodontics