Aim: Analize the validity of Gerber´s second postulate in a group of young adults to be later used in the selection of artificial teeth.
Materials and methods: 50 students from “Universidad Andrés Bello”, 25 men and 25 women underwent two measurements, one corresponded to the width of the nasal base and the other to the width of each of the four upper incisors individually to obtain the total width of the incisor group.
Results: The average of the nasal base width was 34.55 mm (36.34 mm for men and 32.76 mm in women), with statistically significant differences between each gender. In relation to the width of the four incisors the average value was 33.35 mm (33.75 mm for men and 32.94 mm for women), with no statistically significant differences between genders. Analyzing the width difference between the nasal base and the 4 incisors, an acceptable difference of 0-2 mm was accepted, establishing that the difference of this two measures in the total group and in women´s group was not statistically significant. But in men, the difference was 2.59 mm, this difference of 0.59 mm was considered clinically insignificant.
Conclusion: There is a reasonable similarity between the nasal base width and the the four upper incisors width, accepting a variation of 0-2 mm. Therefore, Gerber's second postulate is a valid tool for selecting artificial teeth.