The baseline for mandibular movements is the centric relation position of the mandible. Functional movements of the mandible terminate and originate from centric. It is the optimum position of jaws for health, comfort and function of temporomandibular joint. For this reason, centric relation position of mandible is utilized as a reference position to build a maximum simultaneous contact occlusion in complete dentures and other restorations. A horizontal plane study of the intricate movements of the mandible at the condylar, incisal and cuspal locations provides a resourceful information to comprehend the various terms associated with mandibular movements

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• Postgraduate Professor in Prosthodontics, A.B.Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences, Mangalore-2.