Contemporary Dimensional Analysis of Dentitions using Intraoral Scans

Objectives: The purpose of this pilot study is to evaluate if contemporary tooth measurements in the greater Philadelphia area differ from those of a historical sample, from the Michigan Growth Study, that are used in diagnosis and treatment planning. The objective is to compare mesiodistal and buccolingual dental measurements from a mixed group Hispanic and African American patients to a previously determined historic population of Caucasians.
Methods: Intraoral scans of 20 Hispanic (12F, 8M) and 38 African American (28F, 10M) patients screened for orthodontic treatment were measured using Amira® morphometric software. The mesiodistal & buccolingual tooth crown diameters of greatest distance were measured for all maxilla and mandibular permanent teeth excluding second and third molars.
Results: Overall, the Philadelphia population had significantly larger tooth sizes when compared to the historic population summarized by millimetric difference. Our results that tooth sizes for Hispanics and African Americans are greater than Caucasians’ is in agreement with recently published studies. However, the degree of difference is greater in our investigation than other recent studies. This difference may be attributed to the digital methodology implemented.
Conclusions: Differences in tooth sizes exist between contemporary Hispanic and African Americans from a historical sample of Caucasian gathered over 50 years ago. Past standards attained from Caucasian subjects such as Leeway Space, E-space & Bolton discrepancies may not apply to all patients.