DOI: https://doi.org/10.53350/pjmhs22168178 ORIGINAL ARTICLE 178 P J M H S Vol. 16, No. 08, August 2022 Evaluating vibrating line location with respect to palatine fovea in various soft palate types MUHAMMAD AAMIR GHAFOOR CHAUDHARY 1 , SYED HAMMAD AZEEM RIZVI 2 , AFSHEEN ZAKIR 3 , FAIZA AWAIS 4 , NOOR FATIMA 5 , AROOJ FATIMA 6 , SAJID NAEEM 7 1 Associate Professor, Dept of Prosthodontics, Islamic International Dental College, Riphah International University Islamabad 2 Assistant Professor, Dept of Prosthodontics, Lahore Medical and Dental College, Lahore. 3 Associate Professor, Department of Physiology, Faryal Dental College, Lahore 4 Associate Professor of Community Dentistry, Rashid Latif Dental College, Lahore. 1 Associate Professor, Dept of Prosthodontics, Islamic International Dental College, Riphah International University Islamabad 2 Assistant Professor, Dept of Prosthodontics, Lahore Medical and Dental College, Lahore. 3 Associate Professor, Department of Physiology, Faryal Dental College, Lahore 4 Associate Professor of Community Dentistry, Rashid Latif Dental College, Lahore. 5,6 Dental Surgeon, Lahore Medical and Dental College, Lahore 7 Professor, Department of Prosthodontics, Lahore Medical and Dental College Lahore. Correspondence to Dr. Muhammad Aamir Ghafoor Chaudhary, Email: prostho.doc21@gmail.com, Ph# 03215162802 ABSTRATCT Aim: To determine the frequency of the location of vibrating line in relation to palatine fovea in Class I, II and III soft palate types among patients at Islamic International Dental College, Islamabad. Study design: A cross-sectional observational study Place and duration: Prosthodontic Dept of Islamic International Dental College, Riphah International University, from 2 nd October 2021 till 2 nd January 2022. Methodology: A total of 200 subjects were selected and clinically examined for various locations of vibrating line with respect to palatine fovea in soft palate types (I, II, III). Phonation method ‘Ah’ was used to locate vibrating line location. Results: The vibrating line location was anterior to palatine fovea in 72.7%, 64.1%, 50% of subjects with Class I, II, III soft palate. 16.5%, 25.6%, 22.7% subjects had vibrating line locating at fovea palatine in Class I, II, III soft palate types. Least observed location was the posterior location of vibrating line; 10.8%,10.3% 27.3% in all soft palate types (class I, II, III). In- significant association with age, gender and soft palate types was seen with location of vibrating line. Conclusion: The vibrating line was located predominantly anterior to palatine fovea in all three soft palate types. Keywords: Dentures, Post dam area, Palatine Fovea, Retention, Soft Palate Contours, Vibrating line. INTRODUCTION With increasing age people tend to lose their teeth and edentulism is a condition where no tooth is left. A successful complete denture fabrication needs extra care at each step of denture construction. 1 The denture retention should be perfectly achieved as the prosthesis can only be held in the mouth with physical forces. The retention in the denture is mainly achieved by close contact of the denture with the underlying mucosa and its borders tightly sealed to prevent air, food and liquid ingress 2 . A seal with denture and surrounding mucosa is mandatory. The seal is hard to achieve especially at the maxillary denture posterior borders 3 . In maxilla for the close contact of denture, posterior border should be extended on the hard palate to ensure posterior palatal seal. The extent to which we can extend the posterior borders is of great concern and the location of the area needs special attention and remains an important step while denture construction. 4 Under and over extended posterior borders result into gagging, retention loss, food, air and water ingress and eventually results in loss of denture’s retention, support and stability 5 . Techniques have been suggested in many studies regarding location of maxillary denture’s posterior borders. 6 Palatine fovea are clinically visible, small pits or depression of mucosa seen at the junction of hard and soft palate. 7 They are considered as guide for locating posterior palatal seal area. 7 Dentist also consider the vibrating line of soft palate as a reference point. Vibrating line is where soft palate movements minimize when mucosa is in function and posterior denture border should not extend beyond this line. 7 To evaluate vibrating line dentists commonly practice phonation method i.e., ‘ah’ sound, nose blowing also known as Valsalva maneuver or palpation with burnisher; a dental instrument 8,9 . As contours of soft palate show variation in patients therefore the position of vibrating line varies from person to person. 10 Furthermore, the soft palate movements and tissue thickness at posterior palatal seal area varies 10 . ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Received on 25-03-2022 Accepted on 17-07-2022 On the basis of angular relationship of soft and hard palate the soft palate is classified as Class I, II and III. Class I palate has minimal angle <10 degree with the hard palate as it runs a horizontal course. Class II palate 10-45 degree; has a comparative vertical direction than class I. Class III palate has sharp vertical drop and males >45degree angle to hard palate 10,11 . Many dental schools use the concept of locating vibration lines through phonation (ah sound) method. 12 Others adopted 1 vibrating line concept for achieving posterior palatal seal and extends denture beyond vibrating line 12 . Whereas, Silverman recommended average 8.2mm distance posterior to vibrating line as a good distance to maintain denture seal 13 . Few researchers found palatine fovea and their positional relationship with vibrating line as a guide for placing posterior palatal seal of maxillary dentures. 13 Some reported fovea at the vibrating line and other reported posterior to it. Kumar reported 2.07 mean distance of palatine fovea to vibrating line 14 . The positional relation of palatine fovea with vibrating line is controversial as it was different in various studies in different part of the world. 14 To the best of our knowledge, we found no study done in Pakistan to evaluate the position of palatine fovea with respect to vibrating line in soft palate types. Many dentures are unsuccessful due to improper formation of denture seal as minor attention given to the diagnostic evaluation and anatomical and physiological relationships of posterior seal. The finding of this research would help dental practitioner in easily and effectively establishing posterior border seal of maxillary dentures in different anatomical variations of palate. This study was conducted with the objective to determine the frequency of vibrating line location in relation to palatine fovea in Class I, II and III soft palate among patients at Islamic International Dental College, Islamabad. METHODOLOGY This Cross-sectional observational study done at Prosthodontic department of Islamic International Dental College, Riphah International University, Islamabad from 2 nd October 2021 till 2 nd January 2022, in 3 months duration. A total of 200 individuals of