Anthropometric Evaluation in Young Uruguayans: Application of Dental Proportions
Objectives: Determine the proportion among the apparent mesiodistal widths of maxillary incisors and canines in a sample of young Uruguayans and compare it to the Golden Proportion, Preston’s Proportion and Golden Percentage.
Methods: An observational, analytic and cross-sectional study was conducted with 60 Uruguayans between 18 and 30 years of age who met the inclusion criteria. Standardized frontal photographs were taken with a Nikon© D7100 DX camera, 105mm macro lens and AS-14 ring flash stabilized on a tripod following the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry® (AACD 2013) photographic protocol and imported to Adobe® Photoshop® CS4 (Adobe Systems Inc., CA). Teeth contact points were marked where the widest apparent mesiodistal width was seen and two calibrated examiners (ICC inter-examiner=1.00, intra-examiner=0.99) performed the digital measurements using the software’s ruler tool. Measurements were recorded in pixels in a Microsoft® Office Excel® (2010 Microsoft Corp) spreadsheet and used to calculate the existing proportion among teeth to compare it to the Golden Proportion. Formulas were applied to these measurements to compare results to Preston’s Proportion and Golden Percentage. Statistical analysis was conducted (1-sample, 2-sample T-test, 1-sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Mann-Whitney U and Wilcoxon signed-ranked test, p<0.05) using SPSS® V22 (IBM Corp. Armonk, NY) software.
Results: The mean proportion found for the left canine, lateral incisor and central incisor was 0.822:1:1.495 and 0.801:1:1.504 for the right side. The Golden Proportion was not detected in this sample (p<0.001) and the Golden Percentage was verified for right (p=0.105) and left lateral incisors (p=0.142). Preston’s Proportion was found in right canine - lateral incisor (p=0.197) and right (p=0.072) and left (p=0.210) lateral incisor - central incisor relationship.
Conclusions: The results of the research tend to favor the use of Preston’s Proportion as a guideline for the rehabilitation of the maxillary anterior region in young Uruguayans.