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Review
. 2015 Aug;7(Suppl 2):S424-7.
doi: 10.4103/0975-7406.163488.

Natural head position: An overview

N Meiyappan  1 , S Tamizharasi  1 , K P Senthilkumar  1 , K Janardhanan  1
Affiliations
Review

Natural head position: An overview

N Meiyappan et al. J Pharm Bioallied Sci. 2015 Aug.

Abstract

Cephalometrics has given us a different perspective of interpreting various skeletal problems in the dentofacial complex. Natural head position (NHP) is a reproducible, physiologically determined aspect of function. To determine NHP, a horizontal or vertical reference line outside the crania was used, but preference was given generally to the horizontal. Various intra and extracranial cephalometric horizontal reference planes have been used to formulate diagnosis and plan individualized treatment for an integrated correction of the malocclusion cephalometrics is constantly undergoing refinements in its techniques and analyses to improve the clinical applications. Even though various methods for establishing NHP have been proposed, still it remains a challenge to the clinicians to implement the concept of NHP thoroughly in all the stages of treatment because of practical difficulties in the clinical scenario.

Keywords: Cephalometrics; malocclusion; natural head position.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Orientation of natural head position
Figure 2
Figure 2
The hyoid triangle is formed by joining the cephalometric points retrognathion (RGN, the most inferior, posterior point in the mandibular symphysis), hyoidale (H, the most superior, anterior point on the body of the hyoid bone), and C3 (the most inferior, anterior point on the third cervical vertebra)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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