Vertical Dimension of Occlusion: A comparative study between Anthropometric and Knebelman’s craniometric methods

Abstract

The masticatory system changes as time passes. The vertical dimension of occlusion (VDO) undergoes alterations due to temporomandibular joint disorders which in turn may be caused by related muscle modifications or pathological tooth wear. There are many methods to measure VDO. Among these, the anthropometric method and Knebelman’s craniometric method have been shown to be the most closely related to facial biotype. The aim of this study was to compare data recorded with those two methods. A descriptive cross-sectional study was performed with a total 200 patients. A vernier caliper was used to measure facial landmarks. Results were analyzed using paired t-test, setting the level of significance at p<0.05. There was no significant difference between the two methods but Knebelman’s method had less variability. Results suggest that Knebelman’s method should provide more reliability for determining VDO in all the facial biotypes studied.