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Abstract
A well established premise in the field of craniomandibular and cervical spine orthopedics is that forward head posture (FHP) adversely affects mandibular position and therefore dental occlusion. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of FHP on the initial occlusal contact pattern (IOCP) in order to provide further clarification on this important topic. Thirty-nine healthy subjects, 10–74 years old, underwent a series of tests in which the IOCP was recorded in four different head positions using the T-Scan Occlusal Diagnostic System. Three tests each were performed in military posture (MP), natural sitting posture (NP), FHP, and maximal forward head posture (MFHP) for a total of twelve trials. A repeated measures analysis of variance failed to demonstrate a correlation between FHP and IOCP; however, a multiple linear regression analysis revealed a relationship between age and the IOCP. This study raises questions about the relationship between FHP and occlusion.
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Howard W. Makofsky
Dr. Howard W. Makofsky is a board certified orthopedic clinical specialist with over 20 years of extensive training in manual therapy. He is the Co-Director of the Southside Hospital TMJ Center in Bay Shore, New York and maintains a private office devoted to the management of chronic head, neck and back pain. Dr. Makofsky is an Assistant Professor at the New York Institute of Technology in Old Westbury, New York, Adjunct Professor at Touro College in Bay Shore, New York, and a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, New York. He has numerous publications in the area of craniomandibular orthopedics.