OBJECTIVETo study the relationship between the mesiodistal tipping degree of maxillary and mandible posterior teeth and different vertical facial skeletal types of subjects with normal occlusion.

METHODS163 subjects with normal occlusion were selected, lateral cephalograms were taken and divided into three different facial skeletal types. The difference of the mesiodistal tipping degrees and intersection angles of upper and lower posterior teeth between the three different facial skeletal types were analyzed.

RESULTSAmong 163 subjects, vertical growth pattern, average growth pattern and horizontal growth pattern were 24, 96 and 43 respectively. There were statistic differences of mesiodistal tipping degrees of the first and second maxillary and mandible premolar and the first permanent molar between vertical growth and horizontal growth pattern, horizontal growth and average growth pattern (P < 0.05). But there were no statistically significant differences between vertical growth and average growth pattern (P > 0.05). The differences of the maxillary and mandible posterior teeth's intersection angle among three vertical facial skeletal types had no statistic significance (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONDifferent vertical facial skeletal type has its own normal and coordinated posterior teeth mesiodistal tipping degrees.