CONSISTENCY OF SWALLOWING TECHNIQUE IN DETERMINING OCCLUSAL VERTICAL RELATION IN EDENTULOUS PATIENTS

A roentgenographic cephalometric investigation was conducted on 20 subjects to evaluate the swallowing technique for determining the occlusal vertical relation in edentulous patients. The findings were: 1. 1. The occlusal face height after prosthetic treatment showed an increase ranging between 0 and 5 mm., with a mean increase of 2.8 mm., as compared to occlusal face height before the extraction of the teeth. This increase was statistically significant. 2. 2. A significant correlation was found between the number of posterior teeth missing before extraction and the increase in occlusal face height as determined by the swallowing technique after the patients became edentulous. 3. 3. The swallowing technique presented a direct approach to the problem of establishing the occlusal vertical dimension in edentulous patients. The technique described in this article is recommended as a reliable method for establishing the occlusal vertical jaw relation of edentulous patients. © 1968.