Mandibular posture following tooth extrac- tion.

Mandibular posture was analysed on cephalometric radiographs of 24 adult patients who had all of their remaining teeth removed under general anaesthesia. The radiographs were taken before operation, the day following operation and three months later before insertion of dentures.

After extraction, patients adopted a posture of the mandible which was further forward and closer to the maxilla than before. These changes were accompanied by elevation of the dorsum of the tongue and forward movement of the soft palate, hyoid bone and pharyngeal tongue.

Mandibular posture is greatly influenced by oral anatomy. The resting length of the masticatory muscles is only of secondary importance in the determination of mandibular resting posture.