Cephalometrically predicted occlusal plane: implications in removable prosthodontics

Although the determination of the occlusal plane is crucial in clinical removable prosthodontics, none of the existing methods gives sufficient guidelines for that purpose. The aim of this investigation was to check the hypothesis that the angulation of the occlusal plane is generally related to the skeletal base of the maxillae. Statistical analysis revealed (1) no strong linear correlation (p greater than 0.05) between the following variables: (a) the length of Cook's plane to Cook's occlusal plane angle, (b) the length of the maxillary plane to the maxillary occlusal plane angle, and (c) the Po Na ANS angle to the occlusal Frankfort plane angle; (2) no parallelism between the occlusal and HIP plane with a mean angle of 4.57 degrees, SD 2.57 degrees, and range of 0 to 9.5 degrees; and (3) no correlation between the predicted and clinically determined occlusal planes (r0.267, t1.797, p greater than 0.05).