Frankfort Mandibular Plane Angle: Critically Appraised Topic (CAT)

Purpose: The objective of this Critically Appraised Topic was to determine the level of evidence relative to the usefulness of the Frankfort mandibular plane angle in prosthodontic treatment. Materials and Methods: The Patient Intervention Comparison Outcome (PICO) mesh heading received zero PubMed references, as did Frankfort Mandibular Plane Angle (FMA) as a determinant for dental occlusion and Frankfort Mandibular Plane Angle as a determinant of the occlusal scheme. Frankfort Mandibular Plane Angle alone received 168 PubMed citations that highlighted 2 DiPietro articles and a third from the orthodontics literature which was a Randomized Controlled Trial not relevant to the PICO. Four others, three prosthodontic and one orthodontic publication, were related to the PICO. A Google search revealed one additional article, which was a narrative review. Results: Nine articles were related to the search, 2 of which were clinical trials that revealed no evidence to support the use of FMA as a diagnostic test. Conclusion: Based on the limited data presented above, there is a lack of evidence to support the use of FMA as a diagnostic procedure to predict outcomes, or dictate prosthodontic treatment.