Original J. Showa Univ. Dent. Soc.

2: 139-147, 1983

The Use of Phonetics in Determining

the Vertical Dimension of Occlusion

Kensuke YAMAGATA, Osamu TANAKA, Masakazu TSUMITA,

Toshiro TAKEUCHI, Shigehiko TAKABAYASHI and Yutaka TSUCHIDA

The Second Department of Prosthetic Dentistry, School of Dentistry, Showa University

(Chief: Prof Kensuke Yamagata)

Abstract: A method was designed to determine the mandibular positions during speech; in
which three phenomena, namely,() the path of the mandibular movements, (2) the spectrogram
of the voice, and (3) the voice soundwere simultaneously recorded on the same frame of 16 mm
motion picture films. The /s/, /f/ and /m/ positions of an edentulous subject were measured
under the conditions of various vertical dimensions of the complete dentures. The results may
be summarized as follows : 1) Not only the /s/ position but also the /m/ position are variable
instantaneously according to the changes in the intraoral condition. 2) The interocclusal dis-
tances in the /s/ positions were almost constant regardless of the difference in the occlusal vertical
dimension to some extent. But in the case of closed occlusal vertical dimension, it became
larger; it became smaller in the case of open occlusal vertical dimension. 3) The /m/ positions
varied according to the vowels which preceded and followed them. The interocclusal distance
in the /m/ position decreased gradually according to the increase of the occlusal vertical dimension.
4) The changes in the /m/ position were gentler than those in the /s/ position. It seems that the
proper range of the occlusal vertical dimension can be determined by observing the mandibular
movements during /s/, IP and /m/ pronunciation.

saying words that contain the sounds /s/ or /ch/.

1. Introduction
Establishing an acceptable vertical dimension of
occlusion for edentulous patient is one of the most
critical procedures in complete denture prostho-
dontics. If the vertical dimension is appreciably
altered in either direction (overclosed or opened),
problems in speech and mastication, as well as
temporomandibular joint dysfunction, may result.
Therefore, a variety of techniques have been pro-
posed to determine the correct vertical dimension
of occlusion.
Clinically, the determination of the vertical di-
mension of occlusion is often estimated by measur-
ing the rest position and the interocclusal distance.
An alternate method to locate physiologic rest
position is to have the patient phonetically pro-
nounce the letter /m/.
According to Silverman,1-3) the closest speaking
space is defined as the distance between the occlu-
sion rims or artificial teeth when the patient is
There should be a minimum of 1 to 2 mm of
clearance between the occlusion rims or artificial
teeth when the patient is making sounds which
contain the letters /s/ or /chi; therefore, clicking
of complete dentures during speech can also be
attributed to a vertical dimension that is open.
On the other hand, the use of speech to determine
anterior tooth position and the vertical dimension
of occlusion has been discussed by Pound.4-9)
Thus, the phonetic methods have been found to
be of value to some clinicians and researchers; it
has been proposed that phonetic tests should be
carried out to verify the existence of the inter-
occlusal distance at the maxillomandibular relation
record appointment or at the trial denture appoint-
ment.9)
In Japanese, however, the phonetic methods are
not commonly used due to several uncertain points
at the present stage of development. Because in
the Japanese language the consonant is usually
followed immediately by a vowel (for example,
 140
/sa/, /fi/, /mi/), the following problems will occur:
1) there is the possibility that mandibular posi-
tion during the pronunciation of the consonant
(consonant jaw position) will be affected by pre-
ceding and/or following vowels (vowel jaw posi-
tion),
2) there is some difficulty in identifying the
consonant jaw position during natural connected
speech.
In order to solve these problems, the authors
have designed a measuring system which will be
described in detail later. This method has been
used for determining the mandibular positions
during speech (referred to as phonetic position) of
dentulous and edentulous subjects. These were
measured using various reading samples: syllables,
phrases and a story.10,11)
It was found that in the same individual, /s/ and
/f/ position are almost constant regardless of the
differences in preceding and following vowels,
while there are interindividual differences in the
/s/ and /f/ positions relative to the centric occlusal
position and protrusive path. This coincides with
the results reported by Tanaka,12) who studied the
/s/ position of 20 dentulous subjects by another
method.
It is interesting to have found that the phonetic
jaw position including the /s/ position of partially
edentulous subjects, who had been wearing the
single complete maxillary dentures, showed ap-
parent variation of position whether the subject
pronounced the sound with or without denture in
position.
These findings have led to the following con-
clusion that the consonant jaw positions including
the /s/ position will vary instantaneously according
to the intraoral conditions.
The aims of this study were to further investi-
gate the differences of mandibular position during
speech according to changes in the occlusal vertical
dimension of complete dentures and estimate the
acceptable occlusal vertical dimension by phonetic
methods for an edentulous subject.
2. Materials and Methods
1) Equipment
(1) Recording system
The pattern of sagittal mandibular movement
during speech was electronically monitored by a
Mandibular Kinesiograph (M K G) (Miotronics
昭和歯学会雑誌 第2巻 第2号
Co. model K5 R) and displayed on the oscilloscope
screen as XY coordinates. The subject's voice
was analyzed instantaneously by a real time micro
FFT spectrum analyzer (Spectrum Dynamics Co.
model SD340) through a precision sound level
meter (Bruel & Kjaer Co. type 2230) and displayed
on a screen of monitor scope (Matsushita Co.
model VP-3834A) as a real time sound spectro-
gram (frequency vs. amplitude). These two dis-
plays the mandibular movements and the spectro-
grams were recorded on motion picture film (Fuji
Photo Film Co. type RT500) by a single recording
16 mm cine camera (Eclair Co. model ACL) with
a dual image recorder (NAC Inc.) simultaneously
with the voice sound of the subject. The film
speed was 24 frames/sec.
In this manner, three phenomena, namely, 0
the path of the mandibular movements, C the
spectrogram of the voice, and C)the voice sound,
were simultaneously recorded on the same frame
of the film.
(2) Analyzing system
The 16 mm films obtained were projected on a
digitizing table of the Gradicon system (Intronics
Co.) by a variable speed 16 mm cine-projector
(Bell & Howell Co. Filmosound model 7302).
The frame at the moment of pronunciation of each
consonant was identified referring to the voice
sound and the sound spectrogram that had been
previously recorded on the film.13,14) The man-
dibular position during speech in relation to the
centric occlusion and protrusive path was measured
on the digitizing table and summed by a computer.
At the same time, the measured values were plotted
RECORDING SYSTEM
ANALYZING SYSTEM
Fig.1. Block diagram of the analyzing system.
昭 和58年 3月
Fig.2. Explanatory drawing of the measurement
items (0-A, A-F, B-P, 0-13, /PDX,
∠POB,∠BO=×).
O:centrlcocclし!sion,1):pholleticposi-
tion.
in the figure by an X Y plotter (Watanabe Instru-
ment Co. model WX4531) along with the path-
way of superior border movement. The correc-
tion for distortion of the picture due to aberration
and projection was made utilizing the scale which
had been filmed.
Figure 1 is a block diagram of the analyzing
system and Fig. 2 is an explanatory drawing of the
measurement items.
2) Test Subject
The test subject was a 32 year old male, who was
totally edentulous and had worn a set of complete
dentures for approximately one year. His den-
tures were in good condition and the occlusal
vertical dimension was judged to be satisfactory
through clinical examination.
3) Experimental Prosthesis
Experimental upper and lower complete dentures
were constructed. They had the same occlusal
vertical dimension as that of the subject's own
dentures. The lower denture consisted of two
parts: the base plate part and the artificial teeth
part. A MKG magnet was attached to the an-
terior portion of the base plate (Fig. 3). This
lower denture will be referred to as the "0 mm" as
differentiated from the subject's denture setup
which will be referred to as "own". Then, four
other artificial teeth parts were prepared, each hav-
ing the same arch form but having different oc-
clusal vertical dimension. One was made at an
occlusal vertical dimension of 2 mm less than that
of the "0 mm", and will be referred to as " 2
mm". Three were made at occlusal vertical di-
141
Fig.3. Experimental lo-Aer denture consisted of
two parts: the base plate part and the
artificial teeth part.
mensions of 2 mm, 5 mm and 7 mm greater than
that of the "0 mm" they will be referred to as
" +2 mm"
, " +5 mm" and " +7 mm" respectively.
The measurements of the differences in vertical
dimension were made on an articulator (Dentatus
ARL) by means of the calibrated incisal guide pin.
All deflective occlusal contacts were removed to
perfect the centric occlusion of each test denture.
These artificial teeth parts were exchanged in
turn and fixed on the same base plate part by wax
during the recording session. Thus the vertical
and horizontal overlap of the anterior teeth under
each test condition were kept almost constant.
The data were recorded under seven conditions:
Condition 1: with " 2 mm" dentures in position.
Condition 2: with "0 mm" dentures in position.
Condition 3 : with " +2 mm" dentures in position.
Condition 4 : with " +5 mm" dentures in position.
Condition 5 : with " +7 mm" dentures in position.
Condition 6: ("L.") removed the upper denture
and left only the lower denture in position.
Condition 7: ("E.") removed the upper denture
and the lower artificial teeth part, and left
only lower base plate part in position. This
might correspond to an edentulous state.
4) Speech Sample
The reading samples consisted of the tables of
the /s/ sound and /m/ sound, which included /sa,
∫i, su, se, so/ and /ma, mi, mu, me, mo/ in random
sequence, and each syllable appeared five times so
that the number of consonants amounted to 50
(20/s/, 5/f/, 25/m/).
The test subject was instructed to naturally read
two different samples, repeating each five times
under seven conditions.
 142 昭和歯学会雑誌 第2巻 第2号

Table1. Distance between the phonetic position and the corresponding centric occlusion
(condition I, II, III, IV, V), and distance between the phonetic position and
the centric occlusion of the " +7 mm" denture (condition VI, VII).

"L .", " 2 mm" and "0 mm", it existed at almost

3. Results the same level; about 2.5 mm below the centric
occlusion of the "0 mm" denture. However,
Table 1 shows principle results. Figures 4, 6, 8, when the occlusal vertical dimension became
10 and 12 illustrate respectively the /s/, /f / and /m/ greater than that of the "0 mm" denture " +2
positions with averaged value and the extent of mm" and " +5 mm", the /s/ position changed
standard deviation, along with the protrusive path downward, keeping a distance of about 3 mm from
and the retrusive opening path of the dentures. the corresponding centric occlusion; with the
These figures were drawn by the XY plotter " +7 mm" denture
, the distance between the /s/
through the Gradicon measurement and super- position and the centric occlusion was about 2.0
imposed in order to clarify the positional relation- mm, which was the closest one.
ship of each condition. The /f/ position, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7,
Figures 5, 7, 9, 11 and 13 represent graphs which showed almost the same changes as those of the
indicate the relative changes of the phonetic posi- above mentioned /s/ position.
tions and the centric occlusion under each condi-
tion. In these graphs, the intraoral conditions are
given on the axis of ordinate and changes in the [s]
vertical dimension of occlusion and the distances
from the corresponding centric occlusion to the
phonetic positions on the axis of abscissa. The
points which are plotted on the line C.O. indicate
the relative vertical positions of the centric occlu-
sion of each experimental denture. The line O.P.
represents the changes in the direct distance from
the centric occlusion of the "0 mm" denture to each
phonetic position. The line B.P. represents the
changes in the distance from the phonetic posi-
tions to the protrusive path of the corresponding
denture.
As is evident from the Figs. 4 and 5, the /s/ posi- Fig.4. Averaged /s/ positions and the extent of
tion under the condition of the "E." existed more standard deviation along with the pro-
than 3 mm above the centric occlusion of the trusive path and retrusive opening path of
" 2 mm" denture
, but under the condition of the the corresponding denture.
昭 和58年3月 143

Fig. 5. Relative changes of the /s/ positions and
the centric occlusion (ordinate) under each
condition (abscissa).
Line C.O. : relative changes of the centric
occlusion of each experimental denture. Line
0.P.:changesinthedirectdistancef士omthe
Fig. 7. Relative changes of the /f/ positions and
the centric occlusion (ordinate) under each
condition (abscissa).
Line C.O.: relative changes of the centric
occlusion of each experimental denture. Line
0.P.:changesinthedirectdistanceffomthe

centric occlusion of the "0 mm" denture to each centric occlusion of the "0 mm" denture to each
phonetic position. Line B.P.: changes in the /∫/ position. Line B.P.: changes in the distance
distance from the phonetic positions to the from the /f/ positions to the protrusive path of
protrusive path of the corresponding denture. the corresponding denture.

Fig. 6. Averaged /f/ positions and the extent of Fig. 8. Averaged /m/ positions and the extent of
standard deviation along with the pro- standard deviation along with the protru-
trusive path and retrusive opening path of sive path and retrusive opening path of
the corresponding denture. the corresponding denture.

"0 mm" and " +2 mm" dentures , the /m/ positions

Figures 8 and 9 represent results of all the /m/
positions in the /m/ speech sample which contained
/ma/, /mi/, /mu/, /me/ and /mo/ in random ar-
rangement. The /m/ position, even under the con-
dition of "E." and "L.", existed below the centric
occlusion of the "0 mm" denture; this is obviously
different from the /s/ and If/ position under the
same conditions. When wearing the " - mm",
were approximately 4 mm below the centric occlu-
sion of the "0 mm" denture. When wearing the
" +5 mm" and " +7 mm" dentures
, the /m/
position also shifted downward, but the corre-
sponding distance from the centric occlusion to the
/m/ position was relatively small.
Figures 10 and 11 illustrate the /m/ positions
 144
Fig. 9. Relative changes of the /m/ positions and
the centric occlusion (ordinate) under each
condition (abscissa).
Line C.O.: relative changes of the centric
occlusion of each experimental denture. Line
O.P.: changes in the direct distance from the
centric occlusion of the "0 mm" denture to each
/m/ position. Line B.P.: changes in the distance
from the /m/ positions to the protrusive path of
the corresponding denture.
Fig. 10. Averaged /m/ positions (/mi/ and /mu/)
and the extent of standard deviation
along with the protrusive path and
retrusive opening path of the correspond-
ing denture.
that were followed by the vowels /i/ and /u/ (/mi/
and /mu/) among the speech sample. In this case,
the distance from the /m/ position to each centric
occlusion and protrusive path was smaller than
that of all the /m/ positions. Furthermore, the
/m/ positions of /mu, mi/ which were pronounced
in the sequence of /me, ma, mo, mu, mi/ were
昭和歯学会雑誌 第2巻 第2号
Fig. 11. Relative changes of the /m/ positions
(/mi/ and /mu/) and the centric occlu-
sion (ordinate) under each condition
(abscissa).
Line C.O.: relative changes of the centric occlu-
sion of each experimental denture. Line O.P.:
changes in the direct distance from the centric
occlusion of the "0 mm" denture to each /m/
position. Line B.P.: changes in the distance from
the /m/ positions to the protrusive path of the
corresponding denture.
Fig. 12. Averaged /m/ positions (/mi/ and /mu/
pronounced in the sequence of /me, ma,
mo, mu, mi/) and the extent of standard
deviation along with the protrusive path
and retrusive opening path of the corre-
sponding denture.
closer to the corresponding centric occlusion than
those shown in Figs. 10 and 11; especially the
"4 -7 mm" denture
, which had the /m/ position
closest to its centric occlusion (Figs. 12 and 13).
昭 和58年 3月
Fig. 13. Relative changes of the /m/ positions
(/mi/ and /mu/ pronounced in the
sequence of /me, ma, mo, mu, mi/) and
the centric occlusion (ordinate) under
each condition (abscissa).
Line C.O.: relative changes of the centric occlu-
sion of each experimental denture. Line 0.P.:
changes in the direct distance from the centric
occlusion of the "0 mm" denture to each /m/
position. Line B.P. : changes in the distance from
the /m/ positions to the protrusive path of the
corresponding denture.
4. Discussion
The influence of the vertical dimension of com-
plete dentures upon the speech of the denture
wearer has long been of interest to the prostho-
dontists.15,16)
Silverman'-3) advocated a phonetic method
based upon the physiologic movement and posi-
tion of the mandible during speech, in which the
closest speaking space is measured while the
patient is asked to pronounce the phonetic sound
/s/. In addition to the /s/ sound, he found that all
other sibilants generally cause the mandible to
reach the closest speaking level ; he believed that
the closest speaking space of each individual is
constant throughout life.3)
Pound4-8) reported that the mandible (dentulous
or edentulous) is carried anteriorly and superiorly
to a precise position during /s/ articulation, and
that this /s/ position is the most forward position
the mandible ever assumed during speech and it is
the most intimate, or the closest to contact of any
teeth during speech. He stated that by simply
recording, as guided by muscle memory, the extent
of the downward and forward mandibular move-
145
ments made during speech, the patient's original
horizontal and vertical overlaps can automatically
be restored.4)
Although the concepts of deriving vertical di-
mension from the functional method of individual
consonantal sound production rather widely ac-
cepted and appears logical, the results of this study
show that not only the /s/ position but also the /m/
position are variable instantaneously according to
the changes in the intraoral condition. Our
results also indicate that the closest speaking space
of each individual may not be constant throughout
life, and that constant mandibular movement dur-
ing speech will not be reproduced automatically by
muscle memory.
Since some differences were found between the
/s/ and /m/ position according to the intraoral
conditions, it may be possible to estimate an ac-
ceptable range of the vertical dimension of occlu-
sion by evaluating these differences.
/s/ position
The /s/ positions with the "0 mm",--," +5 mm"
denture were almost at the same distance from each
centric occlusal position and protrusive path;
therefore the interocclusal distances were almost
constant regardless of the differences in these
occlusal vertical dimensions. But in the case of
closed occlusal vertical dimension (" - mm"),
the interocclusal distance became larger; con-
versely, it became smaller in the case of open
occlusal vertical dimension (" +7 mm"). Under
the condition "E.", the jaw was extremely over-
closed during pronunciation of the /s/ sound.
The immediate changes of the /s/ position ac-
cording to the intraoral conditions are believed to
be caused by the compensatory speech adaptation
of the subject. Therefore, caution should be ex-
ercised in establishing occlusal vertical dimension
and tooth position based on speech.
After all, the proper vertical dimension is not
concluded only from the fact that the upper and
lower teeth do not contact each other during the
pronunciation of the sibilants. On the other hand,
the vertical dimension will be judged to be too
large when the upper and lower teeth contact each
other during speech in spite of the proper anterior
tooth position. The existence of the closest
speaking space is a necessary but not sufficient
condition.
/f/ position
Because the changes in the /f/ position were
 146
virtually the same as those in the /s/ position, it
would be redundant to make further distinctions
between their positions with regard to the man-
dibular movements.
/m/ position
The subject's /m/ positions varied according to
the vowels which preceded and followed them.
The /m/ positions during pronunciation of /m/
phoneme in the form of /mi/ and /mu/ showed
smaller interocclusal space than that of others :
/ma/, /me/ and /mo/. Further, when /mi, mu/
were pronounced in the sequence of /mo, me, mu,
mi, ma/, they showed minimal interocclusal dis-
tance. Thus, the /m/ position that is preceded and
followed by the closed vowels (/i/, /u/) is superior
to those which are preceded and followed by the
half-open vowels (/e/, /o/) or the open vowels
(*).
It was also found that the interocclusal distance
in the /m/ position decreased gradually according
to the increase of the occlusal vertical dimension.
The changes in the /m/ position were gentler than
those in the /s/ position. In other words, if the
upper and lower teeth do not encroach upon each
other, it seems possible that the /m/ position re-
mains almost unchanged regardless of a given
centric occlusion.
Fig. 14. Relative changes of the /s/ and /m/
positions and the centric occlusion (ordi-
nate) under each condition (abscissa).
Line C.O.: relative changes of the centric occlu-
sion of each experimental denture. Line O.P.:
changes in the direct distance from the centric
occlusion of the "0 mm" denture to each pho-
netic position. Line B.P.: changes in the dis-
tance from the phonetic positions to the protru-
sive path of the corresponding denture.
昭和歯学会雑誌 第2巻 第2号
Under the condition "E." (without teeth), the
/m/ position as well as the /s/ position obviously
differed from that of the other conditions.
Therefore, it may be concluded that the measure-
ments must be made while wearing the occlusion
rims or more advisably the trial dentures, whenever
the phonetic method is used to determine the
vertical dimension of occlusion.
The experimental results of the /s/ and /m/ posi-
tion can be synthesized as displayed in Fig. 14.
If it is assumed that the acceptable occlusal vertical
dimension to which the patient can easily adapt
will be found between the ranges where the /s/
position can change while maintaining a uniform
distance from the centric occlusion and the /m/
position will remain fundamentally unchanged
regardless of variations in the centric occlusion; it
may be seen that the condition of "0 mm"- +2
mm" will meet these requirements on the test
subject.
References
1) Silverman, M.M.: Accurate measurement of verti-
cal dimension by phonetics and the speaking
centric space. Dental. Digest, 57: 261-265, 308-
311, 1951.
2) Silverman, M.M.: Determination of vertical di-
mension by phonetics. J. Prosthet. Dent., 6:
465-471, 1956.
3) Silverman, M.M.: Vertical dimension must not be
increased. J. Prosthet. Dent., 2: 188-197, 1952.
4) Pound, E.: Utilizing speech to simplify a personal-
ized denture service. J. Prosthet. Dent., 24: 586-
600, 1970.
5) Pound, E.: The mandibular movements of speech
and their seven related values. J. Prosthet. Dent.,
16: 835-841, 1966.
6) Pound, E. and Murrell, J.A.: An introduction to
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8) Pound, E.: Let /s/ be your guide. J. Prosthet.
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Nakahiro, T., Takeuchi, T. and Yamagata, K.:
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 147
昭 和 58年 3月

11) Muta, G., Sekiya, T., Todaka, K., Takabayashi, Prosthodntic Soc., 8: 173-217, 1964.
S., Tsuchida, Y., Shimizu, R., Takeuchi, T., 14) Tateiwa, T.: Anteior occlusion and phonetics.
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Prosthodntic Soc., 24: 689-702, 1980. occlusion. J. Prosthet. Dent., 32: 23-31, 1974.
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