Evaluation of various anthropometric measurements for the determination of the occlusal vertical dimension

Abstract

Statement of problem: Studies on anthropometric measurements, one of the methods used in determining the occlusal vertical dimension, have been limited to the evaluation of only a few facial and hand parameters. Purpose: The purpose of this clinical study was to determine the possible relationships between all facial and hand measurements reported in the literature and assumed to be correlated with the occlusal vertical dimension and reveal their proportional relationships. Material and methods: The study included a total of 271 participants, 136 women (30.37 ±8.09 years) and 135 men (30.42 ±8.49 years). A total of 36 measurements, including 4 occlusal vertical dimensions and 24 facial and 8 hand measurements, were obtained for each participant. Measurements were obtained directly from the soft tissue landmarks of the participants using 4 digital vernier calipers (Accud Digital Caliper; Accud), each designed for a different purpose. The normality of the parameters was analyzed using the Kolmogorov–Smirnov and Shapiro–Wilk tests, and the relationships between the parameters were analyzed using the Pearson correlation analysis (α=.05). Simple and multivariate linear regression analyses were also performed. Correlation coefficients were categorized as strong (r≥0.6), moderate (0.6>r>0.3), and weak (r≤0.3). Moreover, regression formulas were established for strongly correlated parameters. Results: Facial and hand measurements that showed strong correlations with occlusal vertical dimension measurements were the distance between the pupil of the eyes, the pupil of the eye-to-cheilion, sellion-to-stomion, sellion-to-labiale inferius, stomion-to-pogonion, meatus-to-exocanthion, and exocanthion-to-cheilion distances and the 4-finger width measurement between the index and little fingers. Conclusions: Certain anthropometric facial and hand measurements and regression formulas derived from the parameters that revealed strong correlations can be used to determine the occlusal vertical dimension.