Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
Volume 66, Issue 12 , Pages 2498-2502, December 2008

Measurement and Interpretation of a Maxillary Occlusal Cant in the Frontal Plane

  • Srinivas M. Susarla, DMD, MPH

      Affiliations

    • Resident, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA
    • Corresponding Author InformationAddress correspondence and reprint requests to Dr Susarla: Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit Street, Warren 1201, Boston, MA 02114
    • ,
  • Thomas B. Dodson, DMD, MPH

      Affiliations

    • Associate Professor, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, and Visiting Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon and Director, Center for Applied Clinical Investigation, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA
    • ,
  • Leonard B. Kaban, DMD, MD

      Affiliations

    • Walter C. Guralnick Professor of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, and Chairman, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA

Purpose

A cant of the maxillary intermolar (M1-M1) plane is a reflection of facial asymmetry and can be measured on an anterior-posterior cephalogram in degrees relative to the true horizontal or directly on the patient as the difference in millimeters between the right and left medial canthi to canine distances. The purpose of this study is to measure the correlation between the maxillary cant measured in degrees and measured in millimeters.

Materials and Methods

We hypothesize that the number of degrees of maxillary cant equals the millimeter difference between the lengths of the 2 sides of the maxilla, based upon the trigonometric relationship between the degree of cant, vertical length, and M1-M1 distance. To confirm this hypothesis, we evaluated a range of M1-M1 distances and computed the predicted vertical discrepancy between the 2 sides of the maxilla. Bivariate correlations were used to evaluate the association between the degree of cant and predicted vertical discrepancy.

Results

In the range of M1-M1 distances (47.5-61.1 mm) evaluated, cants ranging from 3 to 10 degrees are highly correlated with the vertical difference in millimeters (r = 0.96, P < .01). The mean error between the degree of cant and vertical difference was 9%.

Conclusion

The degrees of occlusal cant relative to the true horizontal measured cephalometrically in the frontal plane is equal to the linear millimeter difference between the right and left medial canthi to the right and left canine tips.

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 This study was made possible by support from the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Foundation Fellowship in Clinical Investigation (S.M.S.) and the Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Education and Research Fund (T.B.D., S.M.S.).

PII: S0278-2391(08)01134-8

doi:10.1016/j.joms.2008.06.072

Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
Volume 66, Issue 12 , Pages 2498-2502, December 2008

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