Occlusal Alignment Plane

The device is used as an aid to patient head positioning during radiographic examination for dentistry. Current approaches either do not offer specific aids to patient head positioning, utilize a bite peg onto which the patient’s front teeth bite, or a chin cup to rest the chin. These approaches do not allow for consideration of the patient’s occlusal plane. The device described is an improvement on current systems, offering specific features, reliability and predictability of head positioning.

The position of the patient’s head and their teeth are critically important for diagnostic and treatment planning procedures. For some dental procedures such as implant placement, surgery or orthodontics, the position of the patient’s occlusal plane is very important. The occlusal plane is an approximated artificial plane formed by the intersection of the upper and lower teeth. The position of the occlusal plane can be assessed 3-dimensionally to determine the relationship of the teeth to the rest of the head for diagnostic purposes.

In addition, the position of the occlusal plane is used for radiographic evaluation and treatment planning. Often the placement of dental implants or positioning of the teeth in orthodontics is relative to the occlusal plane. The device is temporarily inserted into the patient’s mouth, only for the radiograph or photograph, and is held in place by the patient’s bite.

The horizontal edges of the outer component are outside the patient’s mouth and are an extension of the occlusal plane. The horizontal edges can be used to align the patient’s occlusal plane to the horizon for the purposes of dental imaging with radiographic means or photographs. In addition, the device separates or discludes the patient’s teeth slightly to allow for less tooth overlap in the radiographic image.

This is of particular value for 3-dimensional imaging with computed tomography or cone-beam computed tomography and approaches to virtual implant simulation and treatment planning.

In these approaches tooth overlap from the opposing dental arch may interfere with visualization of the teeth of interest. Additionally, it is desirable to create cross-sectional images from the 3-dimensional data that are perpendicular to the occlusal plane to best illustrate the potential dental implant site or tooth position.