Re: canting of the occlusal plane ?

[Guest guest]

" canting " means unlevel. A plane means the direction you are looking

at: forward or backward, side to side, or up and down. If your teeth

are " crooked " and in need orthodontic care, its because your teeth

are not alignd in one or all of those planes. " Occlusal plane " is

just a fany word for the up and down plane. So, canting of the

occlusal plane, just means some teeth are longer than the others.

I have canting of the occlusal planes. My lower jaw was moved

forward on May 23. I now have gaps between my upper and lower

molars and premolars (especially on one side) becuase the teeth that

are longer touch , and block the other teeth from touching. The

ortho will fix it by connection the upper and lower teeth with rubber

bands and pullng them together until they meet.

> Hi,

>

> I've just read through some 150 messages trying to find some info

> about " canting of the occlusal plane " which in my case is down to

the

> right. That is what the surgeon told me and also that I need

> levelling of the occlusal plane. I must admit I don't really know

> what this means... When I look in the mirror I can see that it

looks

> like I've got more gums showing on one side (does that mean that my

> upper jaw is longer on one side ?) I always thought it only looked

> that way because I have a crooked smile (one side of my upper lip

> curls up more than the other side when I smile) and my nose tip

> points to the left a bit. Because I'm not familiar with the

> word " occlusal plane " (English is not my first language), I decided

> to look it up in a dictionery, but the word doesn't even appear in

> it. I also checked some medical sites on the net, but that didn't

> help either.

> Can someone please explain ?

> Thanks !

>

> Anjake

[Guest guest]

Anjake....

I also have a cant. I'm not really sure what the " occlusal plane "

is either?? But, basically, the left side of my upper jaw is a

couple of mm longer than the right. I never really noticed mine

until my surgeon pointed it out, but, now when I looked at old

picutures, I can see it clearly.

> Hi,

>

> I've just read through some 150 messages trying to find some info

> about " canting of the occlusal plane " which in my case is down to

the

> right. That is what the surgeon told me and also that I need

> levelling of the occlusal plane. I must admit I don't really know

> what this means... When I look in the mirror I can see that it

looks

> like I've got more gums showing on one side (does that mean that

my

> upper jaw is longer on one side ?) I always thought it only looked

> that way because I have a crooked smile (one side of my upper lip

> curls up more than the other side when I smile) and my nose tip

> points to the left a bit. Because I'm not familiar with the

> word " occlusal plane " (English is not my first language), I

decided

> to look it up in a dictionery, but the word doesn't even appear in

> it. I also checked some medical sites on the net, but that didn't

> help either.

> Can someone please explain ?

> Thanks !

>

> Anjake

[Guest guest]

Here's a lay guess for an explanation, for what it's worth:

Occlusion is the way the teeth meet, or the bite. So I'm guessing

that the occlusal plane is the plane -- or level -- at which the

teeth meet. If you drew a straight line along the biting surface of

your mouth, that would be an occlusal plane, I think,

Canting means tilting. And it's not particularly unusual for it to

tilt up or down -- or maybe other ways,too. Some folks speak

of " rotating " the jaw in surgery. I'm guessing that can also have to

do with fixing a cant on the occlusal plane -- hey, guys, help me

here? Is that close to right?

My ortho spent over a year leveling and aligning my teeth before I

was ready for surgery. I think that means that he aligned them --

pulled them into a straight lineup along the arch -- and leveled them

by pulling and pushing so that the brackets (and therefore the teeth)

all line up vertically, so that one isn't way taller than the others,

or poking up vertically. (Again, friends, help here please!)

I believe that when the jaws themselves are uneven, tilted or

rotated, it can take some " carpentry work " by the surgeon to get

thingsi matched and straightened. I would say that probably your jaw

tilts up or down on one side. (Longer, to me, would mean that the jaw

goes farther to the front on one side than another.)

Good luck to you!

Cammie

[Guest guest]

And hey -- meant to say first post. Any time you don't understand

something and want to know, there's nothing wrong with saying to the

doc, or to his nurse/assistant, " I don't understand that. Please

explain what thsi " canting of the occlusal plane " is.

But beware of the nurses and assistants. Some are a wealth of info.

Others think they are, but don't have it quite right.

Cammie