THE IMPACT OF POSTURAL CHANGES ON DENTAL OCCLUSION

Body and head posture have been areas of intense research over the last decade. Significant relationships between postural changes and craniomandibular phenomenon are well proven. This paper focuses on the impact of postural changes (head and body) on dental occlusion, function, growth and development. Many theories have attempted to explain the nature of such relationship. These theories are discussed in this paper, and its impacts on different dental and craniocervical aspects are outlined. Despite scientific evidence presented in the literature, postural changes are usually overlooked in clinical practices. An overview on this topic is important to enable clinicians to provide more precise clinical assessment and management.