To test whether there is a relationship between head and cervical posture and dentofacial morphology in patients with temporomandibular joint osteoarthritis/osteoarthrosis (OA).
The subjects consisted of 34 Japanese females with TMJ OA (aged 24.7 +/- 6.1 years). Six craniocervical angular measurements were constructed for head posture. Two angular and 6 linear measurements were constructed for the skeletal relationship, while 1 angular and 6 linear measurements were constructed for the dental relationship. Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated between head posture and dentofacial variables.
In the skeletal relationship, increased craniocervical angulations were significantly associated with a more posterior position of the maxilla, a decreased Frankfort to mandibular plane angle, decreased mandibular length, and a decreased lower facial height. In the dental relationship, increased craniocervical angulations were significantly associated with more posterior positions of the anterior teeth to the basal bone and decreased alveolar height of the anterior-posterior teeth.
The hypothesis was rejected. These results suggest that an association may exist between head and cervical posture and dentofacial morphology in patients with TMJ OA.