A Novel Upper Central Incisor Crown Form Classification

Key words: central incisor; tooth crown/anatomy; morphometric data.       
A Novel Upper Central Incisor Crown Form Classification Senn LF1; Lazos JP2; Brunotto MN3.1Cátedra de Anatomía A. 2Cátedra de Clínica Estomatológica A.3Cátedra de Biología A. Facultad de Odontología de Córdoba, UNC. OBJECTIVE: the aim of our study was to asses Upper Central Incisor (UCI) crown dimensions in order to determine morphological groups. MÉTHOD: one hundred and fifty (n=150) extracted human UCI were used in this study. All teeth were clean, free of restorations and decay, and without any evidence of incisal wear. On each crown several reference points were marked, and according to them, the following measures were done using a digital caliper: mesiodistal diameters (MD=major, md=minor) and axial diameters (IC or crown height, CC or Cervical Convexity). A ratio between md and MD (md/MD) was built in order to asses dental forms. The UCI class was categorized in three levels (C1, C2 y C3) considering the upper limits of three intervals as cut-off point (C1: 0.72; C2: 0.83; C3: 0.94) RESULTS: our results on anatomical crowns are similar to those given by other publications; IC (10.88 mm, SD 1.07), MD (8.58 mm, SD 0.52) and md (6.67 mm, SD 0.59).The percent of UCI in each group was: C1 20,67%; C2 22,67%; and C3 56,67% (accuracy was 89% confirmed by linear discriminant method). In our sample, group C3 refers to the most common UCI form described. CONCLUSION: our results suggest that UCI morphology could be properly assessed through quantifiable methods. Our method is simple, quantitative, and easily reproducible. We offer a quantifiable definition of dental forms, based on characters that are not modified because of the position of the gingival margin nor incisal wear.