A Method of Diagnosis by Orthopantomogram in the Removable Prosthetic Therapy

n removable prosthetic dentistry, the interrelations among anatomical landmarks, which can give significant information for diagnosis, can be observed on an orthopantomogram.This study was to investigate how to use an orthopantomogram in prosthetic therapy.Veraview (J.Morita Corp., Tokyo) was used as panoramic equipment.The removable hand-made ear-rods that attach to the plates supporting the temples, were used to ensure correct posture of the head, with the forehead rest.First, the effects of posture of the head in the equipment on the image were examined experimen-tally by using dry skulls, one with dentulous ridges and the other with edentulous ridges.Theposture depends on the positions and angle of the antero-posterior direction.Secondly, 63 orthopantomograms of students in our dental school were traced.The interrelations among certain anatomical landmarks on those traces were analyzed linearly and angularly.Finally, the measurements from the orthopantomograms of the students were used to make a diagnosis of the occlusal plane and vertical dimension for old and new dentures of an edentulous patient.This study indicates that the analyzing method, on the traces of orthopantomograms, was useful for the diagnosis of the occlusal plane and vertical dimension in edentulous patients.