Abstract
The relationship between craniomandibular morphology and 3-D movements of the mandible must be taken into consideration when the restorations are given and stomatognathic system examined. However, it has not been enough investigated.
In this paper, we focused on the dentocranial morphology and analyzed accurately the occlusal plane and the curve of Spee. Subjects consisted of sixty Japanese young adults with normal occlusion. Our results were summarized as follows.
There was significant difference between males and females on the angle of the occlusal plane inclination. Males' inclined to posterior and females' were nearly parallel to the reference plane for prosthodontics.
Our reference plane were more parellel to the occlusal plane than others. And the inclination of the occlusal plane significantly corelated to the vertical location of the lower incisor.
There was also significant sex differences both on depth and form of the curve of Spee. Females' curved more sharply than males' especially on the posterior teeth.
These results suggest that new reference plane is effective for bite taking and these sex differences give effects on the mandibular movements or other stomatognathic functions.
