Prosthetic Rehabilitation and Its Effect on Head Posture

Background: Edentulism is a debilitating and irreversible condition. It is often accompanied by compromises in the surrounding joint's range of motion and changes in the posture of the head. The natural head position is maintained by a balanced tension between cranio-cervical bones, myofacial structures and the dental occlusion. Loss of teeth may cause changes in the head posture that may disturb the patency of the spinal cord and lead to the loss of postural balance. Therefore, this study aimed at evaluating the head posture in the edentulous subjects before and after prosthetic rehabilitation. Methods: A total of 16 completely edentulous subjects were selected for the study. Removable complete denture prosthesis was fabricated for all the subjects. Lateral photographs were taken at different time intervals i.e., pre-rehabilitation, 30 minutes, 2 days and 30 days post-rehabilitation. The cranio-vertical angle obtained was digitally calculated using Kinovea software and the results obtained were statistically analysed. Results: The paired-sample t-test and repeated measures analysis of variance showed an increase in the cranio-vertical angulation of edentulous subjects after rehabilitation, indicating a mild extension of the head. Conclusion: The insertion of prosthesis leads to a mild extension of the head. Hence, rehabilitation with a removable prosthesis has a positive effect on the head posture and could therefore aid in maintaining a stable head posture.