Insights on Traditional vs New Approaches

Traditional Approach

Frank Fort Plane

The Frankfort and Camper’s planes are widely used anatomical reference planes to establish horizontal orientation. Yet, both have limitations that make them unreliable for accurately representing the true horizontal plane. The Frankfort plane relies on the natural head position and hard tissue landmarks. It was originally established by examining skulls on a table, which doesn’t account for the dynamic posture of a living patient. This results in a downward slope that misrepresents true horizontal orientation, making it an unreliable guide for accurate dental assessments.

Campers Plane

Similarly, the Camper’s plane is defined using both soft and hard tissue landmarks in the natural head position. Although it offers more flexibility than the Frankfort plane, its effectiveness is compromised by differences in individual anatomy. Such variations often result in misalignment with the true horizontal plane, leading to an occlusal plane that is typically flatter than intended. This misalignment distorts the representation of the maxillary arch, potentially causing inaccuracies in dental assessments and treatment planning.

New Approach

Baseline

The new approach, the Baseline reference, is a reliable horizontal reference. It employs an operator-guided head position based on soft tissue landmarks. By positioning the patient’s head at a true 0-degree angle, it ensures true horizontal occlusion, avoiding the inclination errors in the Camper’s and Frankfort planes. By enabling accurate capture and analysis of the maxillary arch in relation to craniofacial structures, the Baseline method provides a dependable foundation for precise dental assessments and treatment planning.

Head Position

Positioning the patient's head at 0 degrees ensures accurate craniofacial orientation during maxillary record capture, aligning the occlusal plane with true horizontal. This minimizes errors caused by head tilt, enabling clinicians to achieve greater consistency and precision in representing the maxillary arch.

Soft Tissue Landmarks

Soft tissue landmarks are more closely aligned with functional aspects such as lip support and aesthetics, resulting in a more accurate and personalized representation of the maxillary arch for diagnosis and treatment planning. The corner of the eye and the corner of the ear adapt well to individual facial variations and remain stable during expressions and movements. This provides greater accuracy in capturing the maxillary arch, unlike hard tissue landmarks, which can be affected by skeletal differences.