Prevalence of vertical occlusion alterations

Abstract

Objective: Identify the prevalence of vertical occlusion alterations in patients treated at the postgraduate orthodontics clinics of San Gregorio de Portoviejo University during the year 2025. Materials and methods: An observational, descriptive, cross-sectional prevalence study was conducted with a quantitative approach and a non-experimental design. Three hundred and seventy-four medical records of patients treated between January and December 2025 were reviewed, selected using census sampling. The variables analyzed included the type of vertical alteration, facial biotype, sex, age, and mandibular plane. Data were processed using IBM SPSS Statistics with descriptive statistics and the chi-square test. Results: 48.9% of patients did not present vertical malocclusions, while deep bite was the most prevalent (41.4%), followed by open bite (9.6%). The mesofacial biotype predominated in females (48.9%), while the dolichofacial biotype predominated in males (44%). An increased mandibular plane was the most frequent in all three vertical occlusion categories (46.2-48.7%). No statistically significant association was found between facial biotype and vertical occlusion type (p =0.652), nor between the mandibular plane and vertical occlusion (p = 0.33). Conclusions: Deep bite was the most frequent vertical malocclusion in the studied population. The mesofacial biotype predominated in women and the dolichofacial biotype in men, while the mandibular plane did not act as a determining factor in the type of vertical occlusion.