Position of Occlusal Plane in Dentate Patients with Reference to the Ala-Tragal Line Using a Custom-Made Occlusal Plane Analyzer.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine which of the three positions on the tragus, (superior, middle, inferior) when joined with the ala of the nose for the ala-tragal line was most parallel to the natural occlusal plane in dentate patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This study was carried out on 500 individuals, selected randomly and who agreed to participate in the study. A custom-made occlusal plane analyzer was used to check the parallelism between the ala-tragal line and the occlusal plane. The tragus was divided into three parts superior, middle, and inferior. The instrument was placed in the participant's mouth, and the posterior points on the tragus were determined. RESULTS: For the 500 dentate participants in this study, the most common location of the posterior point on the tragus was the inferior part of the tragus (50.8%). The second most common location of the tragus was the middle part (24.7%), followed by the superior location (12.1%). CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicated that the occlusal plane was found parallel to a line joining the ala of the nose and the inferior part of the tragus in a slight majority of the participants.