title: The association between dental wear and reduced vertical dimension of the face: a morphologic study on human skulls.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between dental wear and facial morphology, with particular reference to the occlusal vertical dimension, in modern human skulls.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred and three skulls (52 men and 51 women) between the ages of 20 and 50+ years old were studied. The selected skulls were from a modern period (the 17th and the 18th centuries) and included at least one entire condyle and had at least 3 posterior teeth (premolar or molar) in each quadrant to allow for dental articulation. Occlusal wear was evaluated using ordinal scale (0-4) and vertical occlusal dimension was evaluated by measuring upper facial height (UFH), lower facial height (LFH), LFH-to-UFH ratio (L-U-R) and dental wear. Based on the occlusal wear score, two groups were defined: with and without significant wear.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Significant relation was observed between age and dental wear (P<0.01). No significant differences were found in the LFH (P=0.847) or UFH (P=0.108) between the two wear groups. In addition, no significant difference (P=0.132) was demonstrated in the LFH-to-UFH ratio between the groups. No difference was observed in the dental wear score between genders (P=0.321).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Within its limitations, this study demonstrated that dental wear does not influence the vertical dimension of occlusion. Our assumption is that the dento-facial complex fully compensates for the dental effects of wear throughout life.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Rehabilitation, The Maurice and Gabriela Goldschleger School of Dental Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel. Electronic address: shifralevartov@gmail.com.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Levartovsky
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Anthropology, The Sackler School of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Matalon
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Rehabilitation, The Maurice and Gabriela Goldschleger School of Dental Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel; Department of Anatomy and Anthropology, The Sackler School of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sarig
authors.affiliation: In Partial Fulfillment of a DMD Thesis, The Maurice and Gabriela Goldschleger School of Dental Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Baruch
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Rehabilitation, The Maurice and Gabriela Goldschleger School of Dental Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Winocur
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009811:Odontometry / Q000379:methods*; D012886:Skull / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D057085:Tooth Wear / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014716:Vertical Dimension
keywords: Dental wear; Facial height; Vertical dimension