Dentoskeletal and tongue soft-tissue correlates: a cephalometric analysis of rest position

The relationship between dentoskeletal and tongue soft-tissue variables has been quantified in a sample of 60 adult females with normal and anterior open-bite malocclusions. Three lateral rest-position head films were obtained for each subject. A principal component analysis reduced the data base and six significant canonical correlations were identified. The first canonical correlation (r1 = 0.962) represented a size-related correlation factor between the two groups of variables. Subjects with characteristics of a short face syndrome and some evidence of overbite had tongue tips positioned below the lower occlusal plane (r2 = 0.929). In contrast, skeletal open-bite subjects (r4 = 0.759) revealed tongue tips ahead of and above the lower incisor teeth with the mandible in the rest position. Undererupted mandibular teeth (r5 = 0.666) were associated with a reduced tongue height and an inferior epiglottis; short tongue length (r6 = 0.563) correlated with a linear combination of upright central incisors, a small overjet, a low ANB angle, unerupted maxillary and mandibular teeth, and a steep occlusal plane. The multivariate statistical analysis extracted clinically significant associations between tongue soft-tissue and dentoskeletal variables. Tongue posture at rest in skeletal open-bite subjects appeared to be related to incisor position.