[Ricketts' chi point as reference element in orienting the occlusal plane in the black African patient]

In removable complete prosthesis, the RICKETTS' Xi point is used as posterior determinant during the occlusal line reconstruction. In dentulous subject, the crossing of this line nearness to this point definite the Lo-Xi segment. The cephalometric study of this distance from 17 linear and angular variables, has been undertaken on 50 Africans melanoderm subjects. The statistic analysis of correlation and multiple regression shows that Lo-Xi is the resultant of the posterior molars stops of occlusion, the anterior incisive reference point to the base of the skull. The point appears very unsettled from and an individual to another. So, it can't be used as a credible reference in black Africans.