A new method to measure the volume of the oral cavity

Abstract

A newly-devised method to measure the volume of the oral cavity was presented and both the reproducibility and objectivity of the method were studied. Method: The tip of a 60 ml syringe filled with water is inserted into the mouth of a test subject. Water is pumped into the mouth slowly and the maximum volume of water is recorded. The volume is measured both when the mandible is in the position of central occlusion and also in the relaxed position. This procedure is repeated six times and the measurements are averaged. The average is regarded as the volume of the mouth. The volume of the oral cavity of ten test subjects was measured with this method. The volume of the oral cavity of six patients who had had various operations in the field of oral and maxillofacial surgery was also measured with this method both before and after the operations. Results: 1) The volume of the oral cavity when the mandible was in the position of central occlusion was thought to be more reproducible than that in the mandible relaxed position. 2) The volume of the oral cavity has a particularly close correlation with body height and total head height. 3) The difference in the volume of the oral cavity before and after surgery seemed to coincide with the results of the operation carried out. From these results, our new method is considered fully objective and reliable.